


Inheritance

by Witch_Nova221



Series: Hunted Through Time [1]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/M, Haunted Houses, Haunting, Romance, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-01-29
Packaged: 2018-05-17 00:35:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 62,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5847073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witch_Nova221/pseuds/Witch_Nova221
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jackie's mother dies, leaving a shock fortune and a house in the Lake District, Rose thinks things are finally shaping up for them on Earth but strange occurrences in their new house makes even the Doctor question his beliefs in reality. Prior to School Reunion as Mickey is still in Jackie's dimension so spoilers until there.</p>
<p>First published in 2006 and not re-edited before posting</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sad News

Forty-eight Bucknall House was as silent as the rest of the estate as the street lamp illuminated night of London wrapped a sleepy blanket around the restless city. The stars were veiled by the thin layer of smog that had gathered during the recent hot weather, July proving to be hotter and more consuming every year. The only sounds were the occasional blare of police sirens as they raced through the streets or the screaming yelp of a fox as he foraged in the bins for scraps to leave laying on the floor. Bucknall House stood in all its concrete and metal glory, one of the many high rises South of the river that didn't have 'Luxury Apartments' written on a banner across its front like the ones erected north of the Thames but to Jackie Tyler it was home. Home however was now always too quiet even in the cold light of day. That's why Jackie Tyler slept fitfully in her large double bed, all too aware of the space beside her and the empty room across the hall that was still littered with possessions but devoid of any life.

People could say that after nearly two years she should have been used to living alone, used to the fact that her one and only daughter was travelling but people didn't know that travelling was a very loose term to apply to where Jackie Tyler's daughter had gone. Most mothers, when their daughters leave home, know exactly where they are, who they're with, when they'll next see them but for Jackie those facts would never be definite. How could you be confident in your daughter's return when all you knew was that she was in a space ship, with a man who claimed to be an alien, racing through Time and Space as if it was child's play? Jackie Tyler didn't know. Jackie Tyler worried daily that she would never again hear the now familiar rasp of the ancient time ship or, if she did, that only its pilot would step out, his now youthful appearance either ashen with sorrow or changed once more as he explained to her how her daughter had died a hero saving some planet a billion miles away that no one on Earth would ever hear of.

Jackie mumbled once more in her sleep as her legs thrashed out again, tangling in the thin sheet she had thrown over herself in the stifling summer heat. Sweat slicked her nightdress but not through the temperature alone. She called out her daughter's name, incoherently begging for her to stop, to think, to come home. She reached out her hand, groping in the darkness but gripping only thin air, her face set in the desperate look that only a mother can achieve when concerned for the welfare of her infant. She settled once more as the torturous dream seemed to pass, the only sound in her small flat being once again the gentle whirr of the fan on her bedside table and the even rhythm of her breathing, providing a pulse to the familiar cacophony of noise that made up the London night outside her window.

The comforting lull did not last long however as a shrill ringing, completely out of place in the world of three in the morning, echoed through the flat causing the startled groan that Jackie awoke with to be augmented with the thump and calls from next door as the sound filtered through the paper thin walls. Jackie groped blindly in the darkness for her phone, her subconscious rushing her as it related phone calls at this hour to only one person. Her hand closed around the small device that was currently racing across the dresser as it vibrated in time with the off key rendition of Für Elise. Her eyes were still to blurred from sleep, rendering her unable to read the caller identification, so she instinctively pressed down on the answer button and pulled the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she said, coughing as her voice came out laced with the final traces of sleep, "Who is it?"

She asked the question out of custom but always knew the reply, perhaps that's why, as a familiar yet unexpected voice rang out at her, she sat more upright in bed and listened a little more intently into the phone.

"Jackie darling, its aunty Lynne," said the voice on the other end.

"Oh…hello," said Jackie, her brain refusing to co-operate with her mouth as she tried desperately to blink the sleep from her eyes, glancing at the clock beside her and only succeeding in adding to her confusion.

"I know it's a ridiculous hour and I'm sorry dear but I thought I should let you know as soon as possible," said Lynne, her voice laced with an emotion Jackie couldn't place, "I've just heard from the nursing home. I'm sorry dear, I'm afraid your mum has died."

"Oh," said Jackie again, unable to put any sentences together as the words slowly made their way into her rational mind, "Oh no, not mum."

"I'm so sorry darling, the nursing home called me a little while ago, I was going to wait until morning but I thought it best…well, you needed to know. The nurses were just doing their rounds and they found her, she'd died in her sleep, she wasn't in any pain at all," said Lynne, her voice barely concealing the sorrow she felt for the loss, "I can't talk long, your uncle John is inconsolable. Is Rose there with you?"

Despite her grief and tears Jackie kept her voice as even as possible, not wanting to worry her aunt about her being alone, "Yeah she is," she lied, "I'll…I'll call you in the morning Lynne. I just…I'm sorry."

"Its alright dear, I know it's a shock," said Lynne, shushing her as if she was still five rather than forty, "You just take care and we'll talk in the morning. Bye dear."

Jackie heard the phone hang up on the other end and silence returned to the room. Her mind raged with a thousand emotions that she couldn't place, not knowing whether to cry or scream or run all the way to the nursing home to see if it was true. She felt her heart alternate between hammering and barely functioning as she struggled to contain the hot flow of tears now coursing down her face. She wiped them away foolishly with her hand but to no avail. Finally, as the news sunk into her conscious mind, she did the only thing she could do. Burying her face in her pillow she let out a desperate, howling sob.

XXXX

The Doctor balanced precariously along one of the ledges surrounding the main console, gripping on to the support beam with one arm as he free hand, manoeuvred the sonic screwdriver into the small access hatch before soldering together the wires before it. As the metals fused he heard a grateful beep from the console and laughed to himself.

"Yes, come on!" he cried, swinging himself down from the ledge and moving back to the main console, flicking switches and pressing buttons until the screen brought up what he wanted to see, "Perfect. See, told you I could do it. Now hopefully that means you won't be landing us in a peat bog next time. I wish you'd let me know when your systems go off line, my shoes really don't appreciate it."

He was answered by an indignant rasp but he merely stuck his nose in the air with a superior smile before running his fingers through his wild, dark hair and proceeding to fiddle with the console again. He hummed happily to himself, tapping his feet against the metal grating of the TARDIS floor, his song echoing in the enormous room around him, the cathedral like dome above him rebounding the sound to him a few seconds after it left his mouth. The buzz of the sonic screwdriver flared intermittently against the familiar hum of the engines as they floated in between times in the vortex, the large central column moving up and down gently, the only thing to indicate the still craft was in any form of flight. With no where to go the TARDIS refrained from its usual judders and shakes, resting itself and sympathetic towards the sleep patterns of her other occupant, the one not currently attempting to revert her secondary power source to the kitchen microwave.

A shower of golden sparks lit up the soft, eerie green light of the room and the Doctor stepped back with a half incredulous look before returning his sonic screwdriver to his pocket, being sure to wave it about in demonstration before doing so.

"I'm only stopping because I don't fancy landing on a planet without any air," he said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pinstripe trousers and scuffing his plimsolls on the floor. He heard the little pattern of beeps and raised an eyebrow fondly at his precious time machine, "Language!"

He pottered round the console, peering here and there for something to either fix or fiddle with. With his companion currently tucked up in bed after what even he had to admit was an impressive forty-eight hours without sleep as they had battled to prevent a race of weasel like creatures from blowing up a nearby solar system's Sun in order to power their brand new theme park, he had nothing to do. Knowing full well that if he tried to land anywhere the judder of the ship would wake his passenger and she'd be willing to go on an adventure only to force him to carry her home when she collapsed from exhaustion, he was at a loss.

He almost jumped as the unmistakeable strains of Tubular Bells rang out in the room. He shuddered, the sound always making him think of the dreadful movie Rose and Jack had made him watch one night in the TARDIS when he'd been in his old form. He searched for the location of the sound, picking the small denim jacket from the back of the captain's chair and plucking the offending black and silver phone from the breast pocket. 'Mum' flashed up in front of his eyes and he groaned, considering for a second on hanging up while at the same time cursing the fact that he'd ever performed any jiggery-pokery on the device. Something stilled his finger over the reject button and he pressed down on the small green, answer button.

"Hello Jackie," he said, his usual cheery voice somewhat more sing song as he tried to sound happy to hear from her.

"Is Rose there?" came the stuffy reply. The Doctor cursed silently. Jackie probably had a cold which meant they'd have to go to Earth while Rose played nurse maid and he'd end up having to sit in front of breakfast television for a week, the only thing remotely interesting being picking out which of the pop stars currently in the charts were actually aliens. Perhaps he could convince Jackie they were needed elsewhere.

"She's sleeping Jackie, I don't want to wake her," said the Doctor, "I'll tell her you called though."

"Doctor…"

The Doctor paused as he heard the distinct sound of sobbing from the other end of the line, he held the phone a little closer to his ear as if to confirm his own hearing.

"Jackie you're crying, what's the matter?" he said, something in his hearts telling him that something dreadful had happened.

"Its my mum, " came the choked reply from the other end. He could hear the raging battle Jackie was waging as she tried to keep her voice level, "She just died."

"Oh God," said the Doctor with a remorseful sigh, "Jackie I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

"Can you…"

"We're on our way," said the Doctor before Jackie could even finish a sentence, "Are you on your own?"

He could imagine her nodding on the end and he heard the hitch in the level of her sobs.

"Call Mickey," he said, "You need someone with you right now. I'll tell Rose and then we'll come home. Try to keep your chin up hey."

"Thank you Doctor," said Jackie, "Rose'll be upset, she loved her Nan."

"I'll take good care of her until we get back, we won't be long Jackie."

He heard her muffled goodbye before the phone cut out. He bit his lip and frowned, tapping his fingers against his lips as he tried to think of how best to break the news to his sleeping companion. He slipped the mobile in his pocket before climbing up the stairs that led into the main body of the TARDIS. Stopping at the kitchen he ducked inside, coming out a few minutes later with two cups of tea, very British curing everything with tea but his main concern was actually waking Rose and making sure she was coherent before breaking the solemn news and that could not be achieved without a cup of tea. The TARDIS sympathetically morphed the corridors to make his journey to Rose's room a lot shorter and she dutifully unlatched the door as he tried to juggle the two hot mugs as he fiddled with the door handle. He uttered a silent thank you before pushing the door open with his toe and entering the dark room.

He carefully picked his way over the scattered clothes and shoes that littered the floor on the way to the bed, cursing under his breath as he nearly tripped over something soft and furry. He rolled his eyes as he thought of the last TARDIS in existence playing host to Rose's vast collection of fluffy, pink teddy bears. He smiled to himself though as he looked down at her sleeping form and saw the oversized bear he had brought her last Valentine's clutched protectively to her chest underneath the king sized duvet she insisted on having despite only sleeping in a normal sized double. He set the cups on the small night stand beside her before perching on the end of the bed. His face fell into a serious expression once more as he reached a hand out to her shoulder, shaking her gently.

"Rose," he called softly so as not to startle her, "Rose, wake up."

He heard her groan sleepily as she turned her face into the pillows, murmuring something about peanut butter and parrots. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, leaning down closer to her ear.

"Come on Rose, open your eyes," he said, "I need to you to wake up."

His hand began to rub her back as she stretched, a familiar gesture whenever he woke her that he knew would bring her comfortably from her dreams. The knotted mass of blonde hair parted to reveal her face, her brown eyes blinking up at him sleepily as she rolled onto her back. Her lips pouted prettily in the darkness as she shook off the last of her dreams, before curling into a gentle smile.

"Is it morning?" she asked, her voice still thick from sleep, her hand reaching out from under the covers to find his, entwining her warm fingers with his cool ones. Her eyes narrowed as she took in his expression but he cut her off before she could question him.

"I made you some tea," he said, using his free hand to reach for the cup and handing it to her as she sat up against the head rest. She took it, blowing on the steaming liquid before drinking, the warmth waking her body all the more.

"Something's up," she said, her eyes not leaving his, searching their depths, "What's the matter?"

"Your mum called," said the Doctor squeezing the fingers currently encased in his own, his expression wavering as he struggled to find the words that he knew would devastate his young companion whichever way he put them.

Rose set her cup on the table and poked him firmly in the chest, "I see. We've been summoned and you're looking for an excuse not to go," she said, playfully, "You really are making avoiding my mother an art you know."

The Doctor's free hand came up to grip her hand that rested against his chest, bringing the other up to join it. His eyes focused intently on hers before he reached out and brushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. He could feel the lump in his own throat as he loathed the pain he was about to cause the girl before him. Rose tilted her head into his palm, regarding his solemn countenance, her eyes questioning and concerned.

"Doctor?"

"Your Mum called because she got some bad news. Now she's alright and she's going to get Mickey to take care of her until we get there so she's not on her own, you don't need to worry, she…"

"Doctor stop rambling. What's happened to my Mum?" cried Rose, the panic rising in her voice as the Doctor felt her fingers tense against his chest.

"Sorry, I just don't know how to tell you this," said the Doctor, huffing out a sigh as he decided that the direct approach, although brutal, was what was needed, "Your Nan died, Rose. Your Mum called when you were sleeping and told me. I'm so sorry sweetheart."

The Doctor needed no prompting to pull her into a hug as her small body convulsed with sobs, her fingers digging into his back as she clung around his waist. He rocked her gently, murmuring comforting words into her hair as she cried in his arms, her tears soaking his jacket as they flowed hot and free from her grief darkened eyes. His fingers knotted into her hair, trying to bring her as much comfort as he could, the movement causing Rose to hug him a little tighter, frightened he'd pull away.

"Rose," he said, his lips dancing across her hair, "Rose it'll be alright, I'm here. You just cry sweetheart, I'm here. I'm not letting go."

"Its not fair!" Rose hiccupped through her sobs after several minutes of desperate tears, "Why'd she have to go and die?"

"I doubt she chose to," said the Doctor, "No one ever chooses to leave the people they love. It was just her time Rose, just be glad you had such a long time with her when she was alive. You've always said she was never properly happy since your Grandad died all those years ago."

"You remember that?" said Rose, her sobs quieting to the occasional sniffle as she turned her ear to his chest, finding comfort in the familiar double heart beat she found there.

"Of course I do," said the Doctor, his hand running soothingly up and down the cotton of the t shirt she wore to sleep in, "How could I not remember. I know how much you loved her Rose and I'm sorry to be the one who had to tell you. I've told your mum we'll be on our way soon."

"Oh God Mum," cried Rose, her tears starting once again, "She'll be so upset and she's on her own there."

"I told her to call Mickey," said the Doctor, "He's a good boy, he'll take care of her until we can get back. You just worry about you for now ok?"

"How did you do it?" said Rose, pulling back and looking up at him, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"How did I do what?" said the Doctor, his hands stilling against her frame.

"I've lost my Nan but you…how did you cope…when they all died? How can you comfort me when your pain must be a thousand times what I'm feeling?"

The Doctor's face darkened in remembrance for a second before he reached a hand up to brush away the tear tracks on her cheeks, "You shouldn't measure what your feeling by anything I do or have felt for my people. Your grief, that's just what it is, your grief and I will comfort you regardless because that grief is as important as anything I could feel Rose. Nan's are very special people, in every society, and you are going to hurt and you are going to miss her and I'm going to be here when you do," he said pulling her back into a hug, "because you were the one who was there for me when I needed you."

Rose clung tightly to him, burying her face in the folds of his jacket, seeking the familiar warmth and scent that always brought her comfort. She could hear the Doctor whispering against her hair once more, felt him shift them both on the bed so that he was laying beside her, never releasing his embrace around her. Rose felt the grief and fatigue hit her as she lay in the quiet of the TARDIS. The sleep that found her wasn't a comfort but a rest from the grief, safe in the arms of her best friend as he stayed loyally at her side.

XXXX

Mickey pulled open the front door of Jackie's flat as he heard the sound of the TARDIS materialising in its favourite spot on the estate. The sun drenched court yard seemed utterly contrary to the sullen mood that had settled over the place. He could hear Jackie talking in pained tones to her aunt, making various arrangements for the funeral and making a list of who needed to be told. He saw the door to the TARDIS open and watched the Doctor step out, the tails of his long, brown coat catching in the breeze and flying out around his ankles. He watched the alien turn, clearly offering his hand to the girl behind him and then leading her into the bright, July sunshine. Even from a distance Mickey could see Rose's ashen complexion and for once was glad as he saw the Doctor's arm curl supportively around her waist as they walked towards the stairwell.

It wasn't long until he head the familiar footfalls on the steps leading up to the floor he stood on but he mused regretfully that it was usually accompanied by the sound of laughter and flirtatious banter, not today though. Today two figures appeared on the floor, stoic and solemn as they made their way slowly to Jackie's front door. Only pale recognition flitting across their faces as they saw Mickey standing beside the door. Rose accepted his comforting hug before silently passing him and going into the flat. Mickey made to follow but the Doctor's firm hand held him back and Mickey needed no further prompting to leave mother and daughter alone in their grief for a while. He leant on the ledge of balcony, looking out over the expanse of London. The Doctor stood beside him, his pose mimicking his.

"How is she?" said the Doctor, the light wind catching his hair and blowing it every which way.

"Devastated," said Mickey, his voice tired from emotion and lack of sleep, "Its been expected for a while but it was still a shock. How's Rose?"

"She's strong," was all the Doctor offered in response, "Thanks for looking after Jackie before we got here."

"She said you said to call me. I'm glad you did, she wasn't in much of a fit state when I got here and I think she was a heart beat away from the drinks cabinet when I got here."

"We all do silly things to escape our grief," said the Doctor, his eyes not leaving the horizon, "I flew the TARDIS into the heart of a sun when…well, like I say, we all do silly things."

Mickey didn't respond as the sound of sobbing echoed out from the flat. He closed his eyes as if attempting to block out the noise only opening them as he felt a hand on his back, the Doctor's cool fingers pressing through the fabric of his T shirt.

"Hurts like hell doesn't it?" said the Time Lord, "Hearing someone you care about cry."

The younger man nodded silently, turning as he felt the fingers on his back tap lightly and following the Doctor into the flat.


	2. Domesticity

It always rained a funerals. Despite the hot, sunny weather July had given London on the day Miranda Jacqueline Prentis was laid to rest it was heavy with rain, thick stormy rain that penetrated your clothes and left you sticky with the humidity. The rain was welcome though, in the rain no one could see you cry. The ground was open, six foot down with the small wooden casket slowly descending into its dark embrace, lilies and violets arranged elegantly on top. All around young and old sobbed quietly as the vicar spoke, having to repeat himself several times as the thunder crashed out above him. From the air only the tops of umbrellas surrounding the small, rectangular excavation would have been seen, a wreath of black that symbolised the solemn situation.

The Doctor hated funerals, he especially hated them when one of the dearest people in his life was clutching to him in desperation as her heart broke for the scene before her. He scanned his eyes over the crowd, noticing those he recognised as Rose's family and friends and those he did not, all united in their grief. Jackie stood by the grave side, supported by her cousin as she bid a final farewell to here mother, her eyes focusing on nothing or no one. The Doctor felt Rose's hands grip a little tighter around him and he wrapped the long black coat he had found for the occasion tighter around her shuddering form, protecting her from the onslaught of the rain. Mickey stood to one side, looking dejected but resigned as Rose chose the embrace of a Time Lord over his. He rationalised that perhaps it was easier to cling to someone who had passed through death rather than someone as fragile as herself.

The service came to an end and the mourners rushed towards their cars to escape the rain. Seeing Jackie sink to her knees by the graveside, not caring for the mud now caking the base of her skirt, the Doctor quickly handed the quivering Rose to Mickey, assuring her he wouldn't be long. At first she had tried to resist but seeing the distraught figure of her mother as the Doctor walked towards her she obliged, looking back only long enough to see the Doctor slip off his jacket and laying it on Jackie's shoulders before kneeling beside her.

Jackie didn't even acknowledge the man beside her as she stared down at the small, wooden box, the tears blurring her eyesight before the were reluctantly pushed away by fingers, her manicure half bitten away with stress. The Doctor slipped his arm firmly around her shoulders, letting her lean her weight against him as he raised her to her feet. She resisted but her body was weak with grief, making it easy for the Doctor to remove her from the graveside. They made slow progress across the grave yard which looked foreboding and desperate in the stormy light. He could see Rose and Mickey huddled beneath the archway of the small church, watching them as the Doctor tried to stop Jackie stumbling in her heels across the grass. As their feet hit the stone of the road the Doctor nodded silently to Mickey before offering his free hand to Rose which she took gratefully. It was only as they made their way to the car that the rain finally stopped.

XXXX

"Doctor? Doctor are you in there?"

The Doctor wriggled out from beneath the console as he heard Rose's voice echo out in the TARDIS, pushing up to his feet and pocketing the sonic screwdriver.

"I thought you were going to see that friend of yours…Sarah…Sharon…"

"Shareen," said Rose, her fingers fiddling with the hem of the red t shirt she wore over a knee length denim skirt and small white plimsolls, "I was but I didn't fancy it in the end. Shareen's idea of making me feel better would be to get me absolutely legless."

"So you thought you'd come and bother me then," said the Doctor, the laughter making his eyes sparkle as he teased her. It had been four days since the funeral and he had retreated back to the TARDIS when life in the Tyler household began to get a bit too domestic. He mused that it was probably around the time he had found himself at the kitchen sink, complete with bright yellow rubber gloves and up to his elbows in washing up liquid, that he beat a hasty retreat back to the TARDIS. He didn't begrudge Rose the time at home, she needed to recover and help her mother but that didn't mean he was going to spend his time watching re runs of Bonanza or waiting with baited breath as some ridiculous interior designer turned a perfectly functioning kitchen into something from A Year in Provence.

Rose gave him a cheeky smile, her tongue poking out between her teeth like it always did when she was planning on some wicked deed or adventure, "Well if you don't want my company then…"

"I never said that Miss Tyler," said the Doctor leaning against the console, "What did you want to do?"

"I don't know, go somewhere," said Rose, "Do something, just you and me. I've been cooped up in that house for too long and Mum's had to go to the solicitors today to sort out Nan's will. Just thought we could spend some time together. I don't mean go off in the TARDIS, I promised Mum I'd stay for a little bit longer but I don't know, could we go somewhere?"

The Doctor smiled as Rose pouted prettily, wringing the base of shirt in her hands and making herself look no older than five and impossibly cute. He laughed at his own weakness, the last Time Lord reduced to a servant by a girl almost nine hundred years his junior as soon as she fluttered her long, heavy lashes.

"I think that can be arranged," he said, "Did you have anywhere in mind?"

"Well there's a fair over on the common."

"I don't do fairs…"

"I'll buy you some candy floss."

"Done," said the Doctor grabbing his long, trench coat from the back of the chair and following her out of the TARDIS. He glanced up at the estate around him, "Do you want to go and fetch Mickey the Idiot?"

Rose slipped her hand into his and tugged him towards the exit of the courtyard, "Just you and me," she said, "He's been really over protective since we got here and its really starting to get to me, I don't need the fuss. I know he means well and that but he asks me if I'm alright after every sentence and I'm beginning to think its his version of a full stop."

The Doctor huffed out a laugh as he pictured the scene, turning to Rose with an amused smile, "Just you and me then but I'd better get that candy floss or there will be consequences," he said turning on the voice he often used when teasing his enemies.

"I'm actually shivering," said Rose, her voiced equally laced with sarcasm before bursting into peals of laughter as the Doctor joined her, realising it was the first time she'd laughed since her Nan had died.

XXXX

The view over London was pretty spectacular, even the Doctor was forced to admit it, as they paused at the top of the rickety old Ferris Wheel. The summer heat had been somewhat dispersed by the storm a few days before and it had left the atmosphere comfortably warm and clear, allowing the view over towards the city to be unmarred by smog or haze. Rose swung back and forth in the small cradle, causing the Doctor to curse in some unknown language and grip on to the support bar.

"Not scared of heights are you?" said Rose, rocking the cradle all the more.

"No!" said the Doctor indignantly, "I just don't trust some old gypsy fair ground ride to take our combined weight when you put extra strain on the flimsy bolts holding it together. Keep still woman!"

Rose stilled in her seat as she watched the colour physically drain from the Doctor's face, making a mental note to mention his reaction to her mum when she got home. The Doctor shot her a pained glance as the wheel began its descent, juddering and creaking like it was going to fall apart if the wind just blew in its direction. He was off the ride in a second when their cradle came to a stop at the base of the ride, not even pausing to help Rose as his feet sought the comforts of terra firma.

"I'd better be getting my candy floss now," said the Doctor as Rose came to his side, an amused grin on her face, "And I'm picking the next ride."

"I can't believe my Time Lord is scared of heights," said Rose as she slipped her hand into his, leading him across the busy fair to the large refreshments stall that was selling everything from candy apples to chilli dogs.

"Your Time Lord isn't scared of heights," said the Doctor, grinning manically at the size of the candy floss stick Rose ordered, "Besides, who says I'm your Time Lord anyway?"

Rose handed over the money to the woman behind the counter before turning back to the Doctor, pulling a piece of candy floss from the stick and holding it to his lips. She smiled as he took it with a grin.

"You're my Time Lord because I treat you so well," she said taking a bite of the sticky, pink sugar strands herself, "God I've missed this stuff. You know of all the places we've been we've never had candy floss."

The Doctor stole the stick from her grasp and made off through the fair, his long strides forcing Rose to jog a little to keep up, struggling to win back the confection he was now making short work of.

"That's because only humans can have such a passion for the most tooth rotting substance in existence," he said with a mouthful of the offending food stuff.

"Says the alien with pink on the end of his nose."

The Doctor's hand coming up to brush away the candy floss was enough of a distraction, giving Rose enough time to steal back the half eaten stick and make off at a jog across the fair, hearing the indignant cries behind her. She felt a strong arm close around her waist, anchoring her before another came round and stole the candy floss out of her hand once more.

"Mine I believe."

"Says who?" said Rose, wriggling in his arms but to no avail, "I paid for it."

"I went on a dodgy ride to earn it," said the Doctor, releasing Rose and holding the candy floss above his head as she made a grab for it, "Speaking of dodgy…"

Rose looked over her shoulder to where he had nodded and saw the large ride behind her. The wooden frame was painted with movie scenes, scantily clad women held their arms up in fright as Dracula or a Mummy bore down on them. Very fifties B movie. The soundtrack of shrieks echoed over the noise of laughter and machinery that was created by the rest of the fair. The words 'Ghost Train' sprang out in bright neon paint at the top of the ride, dripping with painted slime and blood.

"Fancy a ride?" said the Doctor.

"You won't get scared will you?" said Rose sweetly, laughing as she turned back to the Doctor to see the incredulous expression on his face.

"I think after nine hundred years of facing the nasties of the universe I can cope with a rubber model of some oogly boogly…and I am never using that phrase again," he said tossing the now bare wooden stick into a nearby bin and stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Come on then."

Rose hadn't even had a chance to reach her pocket before she noticed the Doctor handing over some change to the unimpressed looking attendant, dressed head to toe in a black vampire outfit. He regarded Rose and the Doctor with surprise as he led them to the car behind a gaggle of squealing twelve year olds. As he pulled down the lever to set the ride moving he gave them a pointed stare.

"Just keep it PG in there," he said as they disappeared through a curtain to be assaulted by a falling skeleton and several jets of air that made neither of them jump.

"What does that mean? Keep it PG," said the Doctor between pulling faces back at the rubber models jumping out at him with pre recorded screams.

"I think he thought we were coming in here to make out. That's what all the teenagers do."

Even in the darkness Rose could have sworn she saw the Doctor blush and she let her hand find his in the darkness between them, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Well I'll have him know I'm no teenager," said the Doctor, leaning back against the seat, "I think that would be a much scarier exhibit than this attempt, lots of hormonal adolescents playing tonsil hockey on a fair ground ride…now that's frightening!"

"You're mad," said Rose before shrieking in surprise as a plastic spider fell from the ceiling, brushing against her hair. She stiffened as she waited for the Doctor's inevitable laughter that he was currently trying to hide, forcing his body to convulse beside her.

"Shut up!" she snapped before any sound could escape his lips, "I don't like spiders."

The Doctor's hand left hers as he placed an arm around her shoulders, "You're alright," he said, his voice strained with repressed laughter, "I'll protect you."

Rose shrugged him off before breaking into giggles herself, leaning back against his side when she'd quieted.

"God I'm a wimp," she said as the ride continued unnoticed around her, "After everything we've done I jump at a plastic spider."

"I suppose it was quiet a large spider," said the Doctor, his fingers toying with the hem of her top at her waist, "I'm glad to hear you laughing again."

"Can't help but laugh when I'm around you."

"Oi!"

"Its true, you always make me laugh, in a good way I mean," said Rose, gripping onto the side of the car as it made its juddering way up to the next level, "Is this thing not over yet?"

"It's the TARDIS of fair ground rides," said the Doctor batting away some torn pieces of cotton that hung down in his face from a mummy that had seen better days, "So, what are we going to do after this? I swear if we go back the TARDIS is going to make me homeless, she's not been appreciating my…hmm…modifications."

"You've been fiddling."

"It was that or Neighbours," said the Doctor as the car rapidly descended back to ground level and they emerged from the ride into the light of day once more.

The Doctor offered his hand to Rose to help her climb out of the car and led her down the steps, throwing a cheeky grin at the attendant.

"See, no hickeys, we behaved," he called much to the annoyance of several parents nearby who quickly covered their children's ears.

Rose couldn't help but snigger as they swiftly made their way out of the hustle and bustle of the fair. Once they hit the street once more they returned to a more leisurely pace, enjoying the warm sunshine of the afternoon.

"So how does dinner and a movie sound?"

"Like a date," said Rose causing the Doctor to raise an eyebrow in her direction, "And a bit too domestic as well. Where's my Doctor gone?"

"If you don't want to go then…"

"No!" said Rose a little too quickly, "That is…I do want to go but isn't a bit, you know, normal for you?"

The Doctor smiled and took her hand, "Perhaps but today is for you, not me and besides we have been travelling together for well over a year now and I have never taken you out to dinner properly so its about time I did."

Rose beamed up at him, "You're so different, you know that? The old you, the…"

"People change," said the Doctor, softly knowing that sometimes his companion still missed his old incarnation, "I was different back then and we were different back then."

"I know," said Rose before dragging him a little quicker down the pavement, "So where are you taking me?"

"Up town, Leicester Square Odeon and some Italian restaurant or something," said the Doctor, "I've never done this before so I'm just making it up as I go along."

"Well it sounds perfect," said Rose, "Come on."

XXXX

Rose shrieked in fear and buried herself a little deeper into the Doctor's jacket as the zombie on the screen proceeded to devour to brain of some blonde cheer leader who had crossed his path in the creepy forest at three in the morning. The Doctor laughed quietly beside her, holding her shoulders a little tighter as he felt her shake.

"Rose its just a movie," he whispered, not really needing to as the small, back street theatre they had opted for rather than the expense of the Odeon only held about four other people. One couple, clearly well into their forties much to Rose's disgust, were currently making out five rows in front and had been since the start of the picture and another couple of people we're dotted well away from the back row where Rose and the Doctor sat beneath the projector. Rose had commented in amusement as the Doctor had led her into the back row of the theatre but he'd merely insisted that it was going to produce by far the best view and meant he didn't have to sit there with his glasses on all evening.

Rose shifted comfortably in his embrace and turned her attention back to the screen as the screaming stopped.

"Its creepy," she said, "Why you chose a horror movie I don't know? I'm going to bring back my linguine!"

"That's going on the list."

"The list of what?"

"The list of 'Things I never thought I'd hear Rose Tyler say'. I'm going to bring back my linguine just made it," said the Doctor, "I thought we'd go with horror, keeps in with the theme of the day."

"We go on one ghost train and that's a theme?"

The Doctor shrugged before turning his attention back to the screen, giving Rose a running commentary as she turned her face away from the pictures once again. She pinched his arm firmly as he went into minute detail of the current blood shed, causing him to yelp out in pain and earn several unappreciative hisses from those actually watching the film. Rose whimpered as she heard the crushing of bone and then the slurp of a brain being eaten once again.

"You know in some cultures brain is a delicacy?"

"Doctor, shut up, that's disgusting."

"Oh like she'd be wandering around wearing that in a forest," said the Doctor causing Rose to look back at the screen to see a young woman wearing a low cut top and ridiculously high heels wandering along the forest path.

"The same way you once wandered around Victorian Cardiff in a leather jacket and jeans."

The Doctor ignored her remark and turned his attentions back to the screen. The plot continued to twist and turn before him, more monsters and zombies plaguing the small American town. He suppressed a yawn, only content to stay for the benefit of Rose. Since she had come to him that morning in her plea to go out he had intended to take her mind of the troubles of the passed few days if only for the shortest time, he had hated seeing her down and had willingly embraced the domesticity of the situation for her sake. He felt Rose shift against him, her cheek finding a comfortable place on his shoulder.

"Do you believe in ghosts Doctor?"

"No," he said, "I believe that people think they see ghosts but what they're actually seeing can be explained."

"Like the Gelth in Cardiff?"

"Precisely, every horror story or tale of monsters can usually be explained away by either science or common sense. I don't believe in the supernatural at all."

"Not a thing? What about if you can't explain something?"

"Then I still have things to learn or perhaps its not meant to be explained but ghosts and ghouls are not going to bother my sleep tonight unless I've got you crawling in beside me at three in the morning."

"I only did that once, Jack made me watch The Exorcist."

"Then why didn't you crawl into Jack's bed?" said the Doctor, fondly remembering that night. He was in his older form, catching about an hour's sleep in between some work on the TARDIS when he'd heard the door to his room open and the sound of small feet padding on the wooden floor. He hadn't needed to even open an eye to know who was with him or why she was there, merely throwing back the covers for her to get in. He never did get that work done.

"Jack never cuddled as well as you do."

"So you're only with me for my cuddling talents?"

"Sounds about right."

"That's charming that is."

"Well I'm hardly with you for your choice in movies."

The Doctor groaned dramatically, running a hand over his eyes, "I think I'm getting domesticated, we sound like an old married couple."

"You'll never be domesticated," said Rose reassuringly, "And we don't sound like a couple, we sound like a Time Lord and his companion bickering in a cinema. Now hush, I think Paris Hilton might be about to say something intelligent."

The Doctor received several more hisses as he laughed out loud.

XXXX

Rose barely had her key in the door when she heard her mother's shrill tones calling out to her. She heard the Doctor groan behind her as the blame for Rose's all day absence was laid firmly at the door and she could have sworn she saw him reach a hand to his cheek in remembrance of the infamous slap he received. Rose reached a hand back for him to hold as she pushed open the door to the small flat, wandering down the hallway to the sitting room where Jackie stood, hands on hips, and giving them an unimpressed glare.

"Where the hell have you two been? I've been trying to ring you for hours."

"Sorry Mum," said Rose, "We went to the cinema and I turned my phone of, must have forgotten to turn it back on again. How did it go at the solicitors today?"

In a move that shocked both Rose and the Doctor, Jackie stepped forward and enveloped her daughter in a hug, a huge smile on her face, "Oh Rose you wouldn't believe it," said Jackie pulling back and guiding her to sitting on the sofa, "Your Nan, she left us so much. She inherited a house from her great aunt many years ago and she never sold it, she left it to you and me in the will along with everything else."

"A house?" said Rose, "Where?"

"Penrith in the Lake District, some big old house in the middle of the country," said Jackie, "I've got the keys and we can go and take a look at it tomorrow. I was trying to ring you to tell you. We'll have to get up early to get the train."

Rose shot a look up at the Doctor and he nodded already knowing her question.

"We could take the TARDIS," said Rose, "Then we wouldn't have to get up so early."

"Go in the…is it safe?" said Jackie warily.

"Completely," said the Doctor, "I'd best go and make sure we're good to go in the morning."

He went to go to the door before swinging back into the room and bending down to press a kiss to Rose's cheek, "See you in the morning."

"Yeah," said Rose, blushing slightly, "See you in the morning."


	3. Nightmares

The Doctor stirred in the silence of the TARDIS as he heard the gentle pad of feet outside his bedroom and the click of the door as it opened. He smiled to himself but didn't open his eyes, sweeping his hand behind him to pull back the covers. He felt the pressure of the bed and then the warmth of another body beside him. He felt the light arm snake around his shoulders and the warm palm that rested between his hearts as her cheek pressed against his back. He sighed and snuggled back against her, feeling the beat of her single heart fall into rhythm with his two. He opened an eye in the darkness and saw the clock he had set to Earth time illuminated to show it was only two in the morning. He hummed in amusement and she cuddled a little tighter against him, pressing her lips to his shoulder.

"Of all the things we've done," he said sleepily, "You've seen Daleks, Slitheen, Soul Devouring Shadows and you have nightmares about a teenage horror flick."

"Perhaps I just wanted a cuddle," was the content response at his shoulder.

"You crossed a South London Estate at two in the morning in your nightdress for a cuddle?" he said rolling over on to his back and feeling her lay against him, sighing happily as he wrapped his arm around her back, "I give up on you sometimes Tyler."

"Mmmm," was the sleepy response, "Couldn't be without me though."

"Guess not," said the Doctor pressing the lightest of kisses to her hair, "Sweet dreams Rose."

"Sweet dreams Doctor."

XXXX

Whoever had the audacity to be hammering on the door of his time ship at seven in the morning, especially when for once he was having a particularly nice dream, was seriously looking for trouble. He felt the form beside him wriggle and stir in his embrace, mumbling something about it being his TARDIS and how he'd better see what was going on and how come his elbow was so bony and…

The Doctor clambered out of bed, pulling on his brown trench coat over the stripy pyjamas he'd 'borrowed' at the time of his regeneration. It always seemed that he grew attached to the first things he encountered after his regeneration, kind of like a chick imprinting on the mother hen. He smiled as the thought carried to his best friend who was currently burrowing into his vacated pillow and cocooning herself in the heavy duvet, the only sign of life being the steady rise and fall of the material and several tufts of unkempt blonde hair that peeked between the cover and the pillow. He padded to the open bedroom door and down the short corridor to the control room, the TARDIS morphing the corridors for him as he stumbled sleepily towards her heart. He brushed a hand on the wall in a silent greeting as he descended the steps and moved to the exterior door. He pulled it open to be greeted by the impatient faces of Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith. His eyes narrowed in question and pain as the sun hit him full force. He seemed to be less of a morning person than his previous regenerations, more of Rose rubbing off on him he could imagine. He never used to sleep so much. Getting old.

"You look rough," said Jackie, causing the Doctor to smile sarcastically at her, stepping aside to let her and Mickey into the ship.

"Your daughter had me up half the night," said the Doctor, wincing as Jackie shot him a death glare, "That wasn't meant to sound like that."

"And what was it meant to sound like? My daughter disappears in the middle of the night only to end up here having you 'up half the night'! What exactly does that mean?" demanded Jackie folding her arms across her chest.

"Nightmares," said the Doctor, "She had a couple of nightmares about that movie we saw, I was up with her. Taking care of her."

Both Mickey and Jackie's faces relaxed at his words and the Doctor thanked goodness that he might just be able to hold onto this regeneration for a little bit longer.

"Where is she?" said Mickey, clearly not comfortable with the thought of a half dressed Doctor alone in the TARDIS with the woman he still referred to as his girlfriend.

"Well considering the fact that its seven in the morning I think you'll find she's still drooling on my pillow…again not what it sounds like," said the Doctor, holding his hands up in surrender at Jackie's expression.

"What is she doing in your bed?"

"Sleeping," came the response from the top of the stairs, "Or at least I was until you lot started making a racket."

Rose descended the stairs, fastening a robe over her pyjamas, gently running her fingers across the console as the TARDIS thrummed a greeting towards her. She hugged her mother and Mickey before hopping up onto the captain's chair, hugging her knees to her chest and yawning.

"What are you doing here so early anyway?"

"You offered us a lift to your Nan's house," said Jackie, "Want to get there early so I can get back for Eastenders."

Rose rolled her eyes dramatically, smiling as she heard the Doctor muttering something about apes as he disappeared back into the centre of the TARDIS to change.

"Mum, this is a time machine! We could go to the other side of the galaxy and still be back in time for Eastenders."

"Yes, well, I know what his nibs' driving is like. He'd have us coming home in five years time," said Jackie.

"I heard that!" came the Doctor's voice from down the corridor.

"You were meant to!" Jackie shot back, a slight smile on her features. She was much more fond of this Doctor than his previous incarnation, not just due to his more conventional good looks although even she had to admit the previous Doctor had been somewhat appealing to the eyes. She'd developed a strong affection for the Time Lord, despite him taking her daughter off into peril and danger whenever he pleased. He had proven himself recently though, proving a steady and loyal friend to Rose as he helped her when Jackie could not.

Mickey still looked down trodden as he walked over to Rose, "Why were you in his bed?"

Rose gave him a mournful glance, "Mickey…"

"Are you two…?"

"No," said Rose, "I had a stupid nightmare because we went to see a horror movie and I didn't want to sleep on my own."

"You could have come to mine."

"I needed to hear the TARDIS," said Rose, feeling a deep pang of guilt at Mickey's expression but knowing that she was telling the truth. Whatever affections she and the Doctor held for each other had never been acted on beyond the realms of their friendship. They were close, affectionate but no more so than was governed by their consciences, "I'm going to go and get changed. Don't touch anything, trust me, he'll know and we don't want a pissy Doctor or Mum will miss Eastenders."

Retreating back into the TARDIS, Rose left her mother and Mickey behind her, suddenly wishing she had agreed to get the train up to the lakes or perhaps persuaded the Doctor to take off in the middle of the night and blame it on the TARDIS. Much as she was still grieving for her Nan Rose knew her solace wouldn't come from spending much more time on Earth, she needed to be out amongst the stars again with the Doctor, running from beasts and monsters.

A hand caught hers and pulled her into a small side room which on second glance appeared to be a store cupboard, shelves stacked with all manner of objects that she could not even guess the origin of. She smiled up at the Doctor as he pushed the door closed behind her.

"Needed to talk to you," he said by way of explanation as the lock clicked closed, "Sound proofed door."

"We could have just asked the TARDIS to move my bedroom down the corridor a bit, would have been less musty."

"Still half asleep," said the Doctor, "Rose, I'm sorry if I got you a lecture from Mickey back there I think mentioning you were asleep in my bed wasn't the most intelligent move I've ever made."

"You dragged me in here to tell me that?"

"Um…well no actually I wanted to…Look I don't want to frighten you but I've got a really bad feeling about today. Something's not right."

Rose's eyes narrowed as she saw the seriousness on his face. She leaned back against the door, regarding him and trying to work out if he was winding her up.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, that's the thing…just…oh I don't know…just Time Lord Spider sense or something."

Rose tried to mask a laugh but failed miserably, "I have a seriously dodgy picture of you in spandex in my head right now!"

"Hey! That's more of a regeneration three kind of thing," said the Doctor with mock affront, "I'll kindly ask you to remove all thoughts like that thank you young lady."

Rose smiled as he took her hand in his, "Consider them removed. Now tell me what's wrong or did you just drag me in a cupboard to fill my head with images of you in blue lycra?"

The Doctor grimaced but then his face turned serious once more, "I just want you to stay close to me for as long as we're outside the TARDIS, don't leave my sight ok?"

Rose nodded slowly, shocked as he pulled her into a tight hug that conveyed a lot more than his normal display of affection, he wasn't just worried he was terrified.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm a big tough girl you know but I'll stay close, you need someone to protect you too."

XXXX

The Doctor was very rarely left speechless but stepping out of the TARDIS after a hilarious ride with Jackie and Mickey into the bright sunshine currently bathing Penrith in its warmth, the Doctor couldn't help but be gob smacked. Before him stood a house he would have guessed at having five bedrooms, modest but much larger than Jackie's small flat. It was ancient looking, grey stone work and creepers clinging to the door and window frames, surrounded by an overgrown garden that led into the vast expanse of the lakes and peaks of the countryside around them. He couldn't see the small village but knew it was some way over the hill behind the house. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for a hundred years but was still sound and strong. He took in a breath, admiring the scene.

"This is beautiful."

"Yeah," Rose breathed beside him, "Are you sure this is the place though? I mean Nan seemed not to have a penny and yet this…"

"The solicitor said she had difficulty selling it back in the early sixties when she first inherited it from her aunt," said Jackie, "Perhaps no one wanted to live here."

"Well whatever the reason I say we get inside and explore," said Mickey, clapping his hands together and rubbing them eagerly, "Reckon there'll be any ghosts to frighten Rose?"

Rose stiffened at the insult but then put on a smug look, "There are no such things as ghosts," she said firmly, putting on her best 'Doctor' voice, "All paranormal occurrences can be explained by either science or logic."

The Doctor squeezed her hand gently, "You're learning. Perhaps next time we watch a twelve rated horror I'll be able to get some sleep."

"That movie was an eighteen so you're about fifty times qualified to watch it while I'm only a year and three quarters older than it so I have an excuse to be more scared than you."

The Doctor didn't answer as he followed Jackie and Mickey to the door of the house. Jackie tried the key but the lock refused to budge, the rust crackling as Jackie tried to turn the key. Mickey moved her to one side, looking confident and Rose could already see the smirk forming on the Doctor's face even before the younger man began struggling. Rose held her hand, palm up, to the Doctor and she soon felt the sonic screwdriver settle in her grasp. She smiled up at him before stepping forward, barging Mickey to one side with her hip and aiming the sonic screwdriver at the lock. She had expected the lock to open but instead the rust quickly flaked away, leaving the lock looking as if it had been installed yesterday, another setting to learn. She turned the key tentatively and the lock freed itself, allowing her to push the door open. She stepped into the darkened hallway and sneezed, a trail of dust following her as she stepped back into the sunlight.

"Doesn't look like anyone's cleaned it for two hundred years," she said, handing the Doctor back the sonic screwdriver, "Don't suppose that thing has a vacuum attachment?"

"Nope, the sonic screwdriver doesn't do domestic," said the Doctor proudly.

"Just like its daddy!" said Rose as the Doctor shot her a boyish grin that turned into a frown as Jackie and Mickey pushed passed him to get inside the house.

"And you say I'm rude!" said the Doctor moving to follow them.

Rose put an arm out to stop him, gripping the sleeve of his suit jacket. Her eyes looked up at him in question as her fingers flexed a little tighter, "Doctor, do you…is this place alright? You said this morning that something was wrong."

The Doctor smiled down at her, his slender fingers covering her own, "I must have still been half asleep. This place is fine, safest place on Earth I'd reckon if it wasn't for your mother and Mickey being inside. Trust me, its fine," he said with a playful wink, "Now go on, let's see what your dear old Nan left you other than the dust shall we?"

They passed over the threshold, into the dusty corridor that was only illuminated by the thin sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains. The Doctor ran a finger along the banister that led upstairs before testing his weight on the bottom step. It creaked but held his weight although he was glad he didn't have his previous regeneration's love for Doctor Martins as he didn't think it would take much pounding if tested. He could hear Mickey and Jackie making a wonderful amount of noise it what he assumed was the kitchen down the corridor and tilted his head towards the floor above him.

"Fancy taking a look upstairs?" he said to Rose, "Leave them to explore down here. The monsters always wait upstairs."

Rose noticed the playful glint in his eyes and nodded before following him slowly up the stairs as he bounced experimentally on each of the ancient steps before allowing her to set foot on it. As they reached the upstairs the Doctor pulled a torch from his inside pocket and flashed it around the darkness. The landing stretched either side of them, doors leading off it at various points while dust and cobwebs clung to the few items of period furniture making it look eerie and gothic.

"I think this is where Dracula jumps out," said the Doctor as he made off down one side of the corridor, "Come on then if you're coming."

Rose stood in the darkness as he moved off, admiring the large picture before her of a young woman in Victorian dress, her expression stoic but with a sadness to it as well. It wasn't until she noticed the fading torchlight and heard the creek of the door that she scurried to the Doctor's side.

"Wimp," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as they entered one of the bedrooms. A cloud of dust flew up around them and as it settled they took in the view of a large four poster bed, wardrobe and dresser that made up the room. The bed was made up with blankets and sheets, the corner turned down as if still expecting its occupants. The Doctor stepped in further, his plimsolls leaving marks on the dusty, wooden floor. He ran a hand over the dresser, his fingers cataloguing perfume bottles still half full and a small jewellery box.

"Lady's room," he said half to himself, "Young lady."

He tried the drawers but they stuck and he didn't persevere, instead moving to the wardrobe and opening the door. He shone the torch inside, the shadows from the light bouncing of his angled features and making him look drawn and pale in the dim light.

"Rose come here."

Rose wandered over to him, feeling the need to tiptoe in the darkness, she looked over to the window on the other side of the room and wondered if she'd have the courage to dart passed the bed in order to pull open the curtains. She decided against it, coming to the Doctor's side and peering in the closet.

"Tell me what you see."

Rose ran her hand over the garments that hung before her, dresses, Victorian maybe earlier, all hung neatly in the massive oak closet, "Dresses, just dresses," she said before reaching forward and tapping the back of the wardrobe, "And no Narnia either."

"What do you notice about the dresses?"

Rose shrugged, "They're just old dresses Doctor."

"They're all black," he said, pulling back and closing the door, "A young lady's room and a closet of all black dresses."

"Perhaps she was in mourning," said Rose, "Didn't they do that back then, where nothing but black when someone died."

The Doctor frowned before running a hand through his hair, grimacing as he felt the build up of dust beneath his fingers, "But why are they still here? You mum said your Nan inherited this in the sixties, those fashions went out a hundred years before that."

"Perhaps my Nan's aunt was old fashioned."

"But she was old when she died, this isn't an old lady's room Rose."

"Perhaps she just never used it and didn't bother to clean it out."

"Something's not right Rose," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper, wrapping a slightly quivering arm around her waist. Rose had never known him to shake at anything. He held her close, "Something's not right at all."

"What do you mean?" said Rose trembling slightly beside him.

"I can feel…its like there's someone here with us," he said, "We'd best get some light in here hey, better than torch light."

The Doctor crossed the room, sweeping a layer of dust off the ottoman as it was caught by his trouser leg. He sneezed, grumbling about dust mites as he turned back to see Rose looking set the sprint for the door at any second. He turned away from her, a smug smile on his face before gripping either side of the heavy drapes that covered the window. He pulled them open and let out a cry that set Rose screaming as the light streamed into the room. She only quieted as she saw him double over with laughter and heard the stampede of feet that came up the stairs and corridor behind her.

"You bastard!" she cried as the sunlight lifted the mood of the old room, making it look just like the dusty old chamber it was, "I hate you!"

The Doctor couldn't speak for his laughter as Rose huffed down on the bed, a cloud of dust billowing up around her.

"Oh Rose your face was priceless!" said the Doctor as he calmed himself.

"That wasn't funny," said Rose barely able to conceal her own giggle, "I thought something had got you."

"I should be an actor," said the Doctor sitting on the bed opposite her, "You bought that Oscar winning performance then? Ooh there's something in the room, it's a… it's a… Mickey the Idiot and a Jackie Tyler, very scary! Hello, what brings you two up here?"

Rose looked up as the Doctor's eyes fell on the figures in the doorway.

"We heard screaming, what happened?" said Jackie, her face and hair bearing the same dust marks that the Doctor knew was evident on both him and Rose.

"Just Rose going all fifties horror and screaming like a right little girl," said the Doctor, causing him to receive a punch in the arm from said little girl, "Ow!"

"Serves you right," said Rose, "Its fine Mum, Mickey, honestly. The Doctor just frightened me is all."

"Well when you two have finished playing I suggest you get downstairs and grab a duster, I want to make a start on this place before lunchtime," said Jackie folding her arms across her chest.

The Doctor noticeably paled, "I don't do dusting."

Rose caught his ear playfully and dragged him to his feet as he protested at the treatment, "After that little display of yours I think you'll find you do otherwise I will not be setting foot back inside that TARDIS of yours."

The Doctor released himself from her grasp and looked down at her. Rose bit her lip as he flashed her what he knew she liked to call his Bambi stare, all innocent and pleading. There were some advantages to being pretty he mused, knowing his old incarnation would have hung himself before admitting it.

"Rose," he moaned.

"Uh-uh, no way are you getting out of it mister," she said, "Downstairs, mop and bucket with your name on it."

The Doctor grumbled as he huffed out of the room, only pausing at the door to throw her a playful grin and what Rose assumed was meant to be his monster face before disappearing down the corridor. She saw the unimpressed faces of Mickey and her mum but paid them no heed as she followed into the dark of the landing, heading back downstairs but not without the hairs on her neck prickling.

"Logic and science," she said to herself, "God I sound like Spock!"

XXXX

Rose watched the Doctor as he scrubbed half heartedly at the fireplace before him. His jacket had long since been discarded and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing the slim expanse of his ivory, freckled forearms. His tie had met the same fate as his jacket, tossed onto the back of the chair next to Rose's hoodie and Rose couldn't help but notice how much younger he looked when he wasn't armoured up in his Time Lord 'uniform'. The dust had proven difficult with just a normal duster and Jackie had forced Rose and the Doctor into the local village to fetch food and a large bottle of sugar soap. Of course the Doctor had dragged out the trip as long as possible, taking delight in dragging Rose around the ruins of an old fort in the vicinity before reluctantly following her back to the house.

She continued her work on the grimy front room window, turning away from her friend as she heard him singing away to himself under his breath. She stifled a laugh as she noticed he was dreadfully off key. She turned back as she heard him cry out in alarm.

"What was that for?" he said.

She turned to him and saw his eyes narrow in confusion as he noticed the distance of several metres between them.

"What was what for?" said Rose.

"You hit me," he said.

"Doctor how could I hit you I'm all the way over here?"

"Threw something then," said the Doctor rubbing the back of his head, "What is it, pay back for scaring you earlier?"

Rose looked at him, half upset and half confused, "I didn't throw anything at you," she said, "You're imagining things."

The Doctor looked almost offended at her words, "I don't imagine things. I felt someone hit me and you're the only one in the room."

Rose walked over to him and removed his hand from where he was frantically rubbing the back of his head. Her fingers deftly removed a few large splinters from his hair before she glanced down at his feet before stooping down the pick up a piece of wood about an inch across and fairly thick. She handed it to him, "Your culprit I think," she said, "Fell from the ceiling."

The Doctor looked up at the exposed beams above him, some of them rotten and worm eaten in places, "Nice," he said, "Attacked by a house. I'd like to say it was the first time but there was that one time on…"

"Apology accepted," said Rose returning to her place by the window and picking up her cloth once again. She smiled as she heard him walk behind her, before sitting down on the window seat before her, springing up as he realised it was wet from her window cleaning. Rose giggled as he looked set to go into a rant about wet cushions but stopped as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Sorry Rose," he said before returning to the fireplace as if nothing had ever happened, occasionally looking accusatorily up at the roof and ducking each time he thought he heard either Mickey or Jackie move above his head. It was only when he saw Mickey's figure in the back garden and Jackie walking up to him with a cup of tea did his mind begin to question itself.


	4. My Romeo

Jackie was humming away to herself as she wiped another surface in the kitchen free of dust and cobwebs. They'd been working on the house for the entire day and hadn't even got near the upstairs. The dust was an inch thick in some places and quite often had them running for the fresh air of the large, over grown garden at the back of the house. The Doctor had finally found amusement away from the cleaning by stalking and catching various rats and mice that had taken shelter in the old house, gently taking them outside and letting them loose a little way away from the house despite Jackie's shrieked protests to kill them on the spot. Jackie had even felt herself smiling fondly at the alien as he'd quietly stalked around the lower floors, using various strange devices to tempt the little critters out of hiding. Of course when she'd commented on how much he appeared to be enjoying himself, he'd protested that he was thoroughly bored of domestics and was only doing it because he had to make up for scaring Rose, although he seemed quite content to quickly return to his task.

Eastenders had come and gone without a thought and as night brought darkness to the house with its lack of electricity the Doctor had casually offered them accommodation in the TARDIS as the upstairs had yet to be touched by their cleaning. Jackie and Mickey had accepted warily and Rose had thanked her friend for putting up with the domesticity of the situation, promising to let him take her to the most action packed planet possible when they finally left Earth.

It was gone midnight when the Doctor awoke to hear the front door of the TARDIS open and close. He stretched out, his body waking quickly as his sleep had come from boredom rather than fatigue. Quickly dressing he wandered down the corridors, passing Jackie and Mickey's room and silently laughing at the sound of snoring echoing from both. Passing Rose's room he saw the door ajar and peered his head around to see the bed newly vacated, her trainers and dressing gown missing. Quickly passing into the resting control room he opened the door to the outside, the warm July air hitting him as he stepped out into the night. It didn't take him long to see the figure laying on a blanket in the grass between the house and the TARDIS, a small lamp that she often kept alight in her room placed by her side giving her enough light to see by but not enough to hinder the glitter of the stars she was watching.

The Doctor leant against the solid wall of the TARDIS' exterior, silently watching his young companion as her arm came up above her, tracing the patterns in the sky. He remembered showing her the constellations several times and since had often caught her star gazing when she couldn't sleep.

"Are you going to stand there all night?"

Her soft voice pulled him out of his reverie and he pushed back onto his feet, wandering over to her and sitting down on the blanket next to her. Seeing she had no intention of sitting up he lay down on his back, flinching as something dug into his spine. Reaching beneath him he pulled out a dog eared book, turning it over in his hands he read the title and raised an eyebrow in surprise. He heard Rose hum a laugh next to him as she imagined his reaction, never taking her eyes off the stars.

"Cliché I know but it works for me," she said, "Night time, stars and Shakespeare."

"Never took you as a fan of old Billy," said the Doctor, gently flicking through the well loved pages, finding passages marked and highlighted, dictating a former school book, "GCSEs by any chance?"

"I got an A if you can believe that, only one though, the rest were Ds," said Rose with a sigh, "Think the only reason I did so well was because I fell in love with the book."

"Fell in love with the film no doubt," said the Doctor, "Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo was probably one of Baz Luhrman's best ideas, hundreds of screaming girls flocking to see him regardless of whether he was reading Shakespeare or a news report."

Rose's hand came into his field of vision as she deftly snatched the book from him, gracefully running a finger over the gold lettering of the title, "Actually we weren't allowed to see the film," she said proudly, "Completely fell in love with the book, so there."

"You do know who Shakespeare wrote the part of Romeo for don't you?" said the Doctor, tucking his hands behind his head as he watched a passing cloud briefly obliterate the sight of the moon.

"Himself," said Rose proudly, "Most of his leading men were for himself to play. Isn't Romeo and Juliet about some girlfriend of his, the one Gwyneth Paltrow played?"

The Doctor's snorted laughter made Rose push up onto her elbows to look down at him, "Alright then smart arse, because clearly you know, who did Shakespeare write Romeo for?"

The self satisfied smile that crossed the Doctor's face set Rose laughing, "You?" she cried, "Bollocks he wrote it for you!"

"He did!" cried the Doctor, "We were good friends, Billy and me. He wanted some special effects for The Dream and I asked him to write me a part in return, he gave me Romeo and I played it at the Globe."

"You're so full of rubbish," said Rose before chewing her lip in thought, "Really?"

The Doctor smiled, not taking his eyes off the sky above him, "Maybe, you'll never know will you."

Rose lay back down on the blanket, "You could prove it," she said, "Give me a speech."

"Rose…"

"Seriously. If you were Romeo you could give me a speech right now," she said with a triumphant smile, "Unless you've forgotten your lines. I could always prompt you know."

The Doctor sighed dramatically before speaking, ruffling up his already wild hair, "Fillet of a fenny snake, in the cauldron boil and bake, eye of next and toe…"

"That's Macbeth," said Rose, "Witches' speech."

"Which witch?"

"Which witch what?" giggled Rose.

"Which witch? There's three of them, which one says those lines?" said the Doctor adopting the superior tone he so often used when he knew he had got the better of her.

He could hear Rose muttering to herself, the steady rhythm of her words letting him know that she was reciting the lines herself. He was shocked when she suddenly spoke aloud.

"Did that for my SATS exams. Act four, scene one, second witch. Fillet of a fenny snake, in the cauldron boil and bake. Eye of next and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog. Adder's fork and blind worm's sting, lizard's leg and owlet's wing. For a charm of powerful trouble, like a hell broth boil and bubble."

"Very good," said the Doctor rolling onto his side to look at her, "But you're far to pretty to be a witch, could see you as a Titania or a Miranda, perhaps Ariel, although some insist she should be a boy. Funny thing with the faeries in Shakespeare, you never know what gender they're meant to be I mean…"

"Doctor?"

"Mmmm?"

"Romeo speech," said Rose firmly, "You've still got to prove yourself."

"Fine," he muttered rolling onto his back once more with an exasperated sigh, "Eyes look your last, arms take your…"

"Something a little less famous, everyone knows that bit," said Rose poking his side, "If you're Romeo I want to hear something that not everyone knows and you've got to perform it not just recite it."

"I didn't see you dancing round a cauldron a minute ago," he said indignantly.

"I'm not the one making wild claims about my ability to play a Shakespearean hero."

"Touché, alright then Miss Tyler, pick me a scene and I'll play it for you," he said sitting up and leaning back onto his arms.

Rose flicked through the pages in her book, squinting in the dim light as she made out the passage before her, "Act five, scene one," she said softly, "In Mantua."

The Doctor pondered for a minute, trying and failing to sneak a look at the book in her hand. He sat up a little straighter, his coat billowing out around him and rustling in the light breeze, "If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, my dreams presage some joyful news at hand. My bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne, And all this day an unaccustomed spirit lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts. I dreamt my lady came and found me dead (Strange dream that gives a dead man leave to think!) And breathed such life with kisses in my lips that I was revived and was an emperor. Ah me, how sweet is love itself possessed, when but love's shadows are so rich in joy."

The Doctor paused and looked down at Rose as she sighed, her eyes closed as she listened to him. He felt a tug beneath his hearts and almost laughed at himself for the situation as he watched the thin film of moonlight play against her skin as she lay back on the frayed old blanket from the cupboard in the console room, listening to him recite Shakespeare underneath the starlight on an English summer night. But somehow, he couldn't put his finger on why, it felt right, comfortable to be laying next to her doing something a cheesy as reciting Shakespeare at her command. He felt a courage rising in him that he had ignored many times before, the longing he'd denied himself. He deftly removed the book from her hand, the only signal that she had noticed being the faint smile that crossed her lips as she heard him thumbing through the pages before putting it back in her hand, taking the other in his own. He pressed a kiss to the back of her fingers before he spoke.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

Rose hummed half in contentment and half in amusement as her heart raced in her chest, she knew this was dangerous for them both but he had taken the lead and she was quite willing to follow. She tossed the book away with little ceremony, rolling on to her side to face him.

"Rose?"

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this, for Saint's have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm in holy palmers' kiss," she said, pressing the palm of her hand to his as his eyes clouded with the same fear and anticipation that lit hers.

They could stop, pretend it was all make believe, fall back in the grass and laugh about how corny it was to be sitting together in the moonlight but pretence was no longer their friend and Rose saw the Doctor steel himself before speaking once more. His voice coming out much softer and with less confidence than before.

"Have saints not lips, and holy palmers too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer," said Rose as his hand ran up her arm to rest at the back of her neck, a shiver following his touch as it ran through her, "Doctor?"

"I don't remember that line," he said, a warm smile playing on his lips, "If you can't remember the words…"

"Its your line next," said Rose, not wanting him to go into a familiar ramble and break the atmosphere around them.

"Do you want me to go on?" His face grew serious with the words, for once looking completely unsure of himself before her. Rose only had the strength to nod.

"O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do: They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."

Rose closed her eyes as his soft voice washed over to her with far more emotion than she had ever heard come from him, "Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake," she said, stuttering over her words as she felt him shift closer to her.

"Then move not while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged," he murmured, cool against her lips.

His kiss when it came was no more than a gentle pressure, a chaste affirmation of affection and respect that had grown over their time together. He pulled back gently, his eyes searching hers for confirmation of his own feelings. A small smile formed on her delicate mouth before she spoke.

"You kiss by the book," she said, her smile widening as he laughed beside her. He pressed his lips to hers once more, again not lingering long but enough to have Rose melt into his arms.

"God bless Shakespeare," he said as he rolled onto his back and her head came to rest on his chest, "So have I proved my place as Romeo?"

"I think you just about made it," said Rose, before her voice turned to a serious tone, "What does this mean though Doctor, for us? That kiss wasn't just acting."

He tightened his arms around her, "I don't know," he said, "I know I care for you, that you care for me and perhaps, even though so much stands between us, this can be something if that's what you want."

"Let's go slow and see," said Rose, "Right now, I'm quite contented here."

The Doctor tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her lips up to meet his. He felt his name leave her with a sigh and kissed it from her gently, "You know, we never finished that scene properly."

Rose picked up the book at her side and handed it to him, "Read to me then."

"I prefer kissing you right now if you don't mind," he said, "I…"

He sat up as something caught his eye in the house before him. He shot up to his feet, sending Rose tumbling back onto the blanket. She huffed up to her feet, noticing his pale expression and followed his gaze to the top floor window.

"Doctor?"

"Did we lock the front door?"

"What?"

"The house, you and I were the last two out. Did we lock the front door?"

"Why?" said Rose as she failed to see what had caught his attention, "What did you see?"

"There was someone in that room, watching us, I swear I saw him," said the Doctor, "Go back to the TARDIS and lock the door, I'm going to see if we shut that house up properly."

Rose grabbed his hand and caught up her little lantern, "No fear am I letting you go in on your own, he could be a murderer or something."

"And here's me thinking you didn't care," said the Doctor with only a hint of sarcasm as he made his way to the front door. He tried the handle and it opened easily. Rose didn't receive a translation of the words that left his mouth but she knew they weren't pretty. He pushed the door opened, wincing as it creaked on its hinges.

"Rose go back to the TARDIS."

"Not without you," she said as they tiptoed into the hallway and onto the stairs, each one creaking as they slowly climbed them.

The Doctor led them along the corridor to the bedroom door, opposite the one they had earlier explored. Its hinges looked as though they had been unused for many years in the lantern light and when the Doctor tried the door handle it was locked. He shook the handle again before taking out the sonic screwdriver and flicking it into life. The little blue light winked out before humming in protest, the lock finally clicking open. The Doctor looked down at the device incredulously before pushing open the door, keeping between the room and Rose.

"If I say run, you run like there was a Dalek after you, you understand?"

Rose squeezed his hand in response as he walked into the room. She handed him the lantern, forgetting in the tense atmosphere that his eyesight was far better than hers in the darkness. He swept the beam of light around the room, shivering in the cool atmosphere. The light passed over an old cradle and a small bed before caressing the dusty dresser and doll's house alongside many other old children's toys.

"It's a nursery," said Rose, her eyes following the beam, waiting for someone to jump out at her.

The Doctor took another step inside, drawing Rose to his side. The door swung shut behind them with a bang that shook the ancient woodwork and the lantern smashed on the ground, the light extinguishing immediately as it hit the ground. Rose was flying to the door in a second, wrenching it open and darting into the black corridor.

"Rose wait!" cried the Doctor running after her, fearing more that she'd trip and fall on the stairs than whatever had caused the door to slam. He only caught up with her as they hit the warm air outside of the house. He gathered her close to him as he saw her shaking with fear, letting her dust covered form mould against him as she sought the familiar comfort of his embrace.

"Its alright, I've got you. It was just the hinges Rose. Heavy old door like that, the hinges couldn't hold it open. There was nothing there, trust me."

"But you saw someone," said Rose, her voice dangerously close to breaking.

"A reflection of the moon on the mirror in the nursery, it was pointing towards the window," said the Doctor, "Honestly, there was no one there. Look, things will seem better in the light, let's go back to the TARDIS and get some sleep."

Rose nodded as he released his hold on her, wandering over to the discarded blanket and picking it up along with the copy of Romeo and Juliet. He placed the blanket around her shoulders and led her towards the TARDIS, opening the door and leading her into the winding corridors beyond the control room. He didn't even need to stop and ask as he led her passed her own room and through his door. She slipped out of her dressing gown and trainers, snuggling into the black cotton duvet as she watched him rid himself of jacket, shirt and shoes before climbing into bed.

"You're going to sleep in your trousers?" she said.

"So long as there's a lady in the room," he said, "Besides, one sight of my devastatingly fantastic legs and you won't know where to put yourself."

Rose giggled, "You forget who undressed and dressed you when you regenerated. I've seen it all before and I wasn't disappointed."

The Doctor laughed as he pulled her into a comforting hug, letting her find a comfy place next to him, "Goodnight Rose."

"Doctor?"

"Hmmm? What is it?"

"Did we really just kiss after quoting Shakespeare to each other?" she giggled.

"Uh-huh," said the Doctor deciding not to elude to their kiss on Satellite 5, "A bit cheesy, Jack would be proud."

Rose smiled against his shoulder, "Worth it though, I like kissing you. Sleep tight Doctor."

The Doctor curled his arms tighter around her, feeling her heart fall into a familiar rhythm next to his own, playing out an offbeat waltz between them, "Goodnight, goodnight," he murmured, "Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I should say goodnight till it be morrow."

Shakespeare was a very clever and wonderful man.

XXXX

The Doctor waited until he heard Rose's breathing even out and grow deep. He let another hour pass before slowly extricating himself from her grip and slipping out of bed, pulling on his discarded shirt and plimsolls. He grabbed a torch from the dresser, quickly flicking it on and off to check it worked. Pocketing the sonic screwdriver he moved slowly to the door, hushing the lock as it clicked loudly in the darkness. He stepped out in the corridor, feeling the TARDIS thrum a concerned vibration through his feet.

"Its alright," he whispered, "I'm just going to have a look. Keep her asleep for me."

He crept down the corridor and out of the TARDIS. The house stood before him, seemingly towering above him in its gothic beauty. The feeling washed over him again as soon as he faced it, the feeling that had resurfaced the second he had felt the splintered wood strike him earlier that afternoon. He cast a glance up to the nursery window but saw nothing but the reflection of trees and moonlight shining back at him. He walked up to the front door, pushing it open without a moments hesitation and flicking on the torch to light his way. He began to walk up the stairs, catching himself humming old songs from his childhood that he had thought long since forgotten. He moved along the dingy corridor, stopping before the door that had only recently sent his ever brave companion fleeing in terror. He pushed it open, catching the edge of it and swinging it on its hinges once or twice, confusion lighting his handsome features as it settled happily on its hinges, showing no sign of slamming shut.

He stepped into the small nursery, cataloguing every item and looking for anything out of place. He moved to the closet and opened it, shining the torch inside and seeing clothing from the same period as the room from the morning. He ran his fingers over the cloth, marvelling at the richness of some pieces and the simplicity of others. He paused on a small, velvet jacket and shorts, clearly a little boys outfit, designed to be worn with fine silk tights and elegant shoes no doubt. It was neither the richness of the fabric, nor the small size that had peaked the Doctor's interest but the unbelievable feeling of sadness the passed into his soul, bringing tears to the very edges of his eyes. He pulled his hand away, shaking it as if it had burned and then touched the fabric again, only to feel just plain velvet against his fingers.

He paused as a faint sound caught his attention. He strained his ears in the silence. Someone was crying, someone was sobbing like their life depended on it. He hurried out of the bedroom and back into the corridor.

"Whose there?" he called as he couldn't pin point the sound of crying, "Whose crying? Rose? Mickey? If you're mucking about stop it, this house isn't safe for you to be in at night…hell its not safe for me in here at night."

The crying stopped as he spoke and he shook his head in confusion, "I'm hearing things," he muttered before the crying rang out again. He strained his hearing once again and managed to locate the sound outside of the house. He moved down the stairs and through the hallway into the kitchen. He sank back on the work surface, laughing at himself as he saw a fox perched on the bin outside the window, barking at some unknown quarry nearby. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling his hearts return to a normal rhythm, not even realise how fast they'd been hammering. He lay his hand on the cool work bench, feeling the freshly polished wood against his finger tips.

He jumped in surprise as cool fingers closed around his own. He snatched his hand away in surprise, turning in the hope of finding a sleepy Rose staring at him but he saw nothing but darkness before him.

"Get a grip!" he muttered to himself before opening the back door, waving his arms and scaring off the fox, "Go on, get out of hear you mangy thing. Go upset someone else's rubbish or I'll have the hounds on you!"

He slumped down against the wall of the house, cursing in every language he knew for letting his imagination run away with him. The door, freak gust of wind combined with very dodgy building work. The figure in the window, a mixture of moonlight, trees and a vivid imagination. The velvet, a coolness from years of neglect. The crying, a fox in the rubbish. The small icy hand, a gust of cold air from the old stone work. Everything easily explained by logic. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a tiredness seep into his very veins. He thought of his warm bed and the warm body that waited for him there. He smiled as he thought of Rose, his fingers coming to his lips as he thought of their earlier kiss. So innocent, so pure, he'd never had anything like that before.

He pushed back up to his feet, casting one final look over the dark countryside of the peaks. He sighed in appreciation of the sight, unspoilt and untamed by human hands. He squinted slightly in the low light, catching a memory of his own world playing at the fore front of his mind. He glanced up at the sky, mentally tracing the path that would lead him to his home. His eyes fixed upon the distant star that she orbited. From this distance still visible despite being destroyed so long ago. In ten years, maybe twenty the observatories of this small little world would witness a colossal supernova out in space and they would record it alongside all others. That would be his supernova, the one that had destroyed his race, his planet, his entire solar system. He felt a tear prick his eye and a smile touch his lips as he looked at the star glowing a faint blue over head. So beautiful.

A rustling before him caught his attention and he pulled back from his dreaming.

"I warned you about the hounds," he said, his eyes adjusting to the middle distance and expecting to see the fox scavenging again. Instead his eyes narrowed on the movement about a hundred metres ahead. A swirling mist that wasn't swirling but moving. His feet began to move before he even processed the information. He was running, the summer dew soaking through his plimsolls and chilling his toes but her keep moving. The unkempt grass growing higher as he pushed forward, whipping at his waist as he seemed to grow closer to the mist. He spluttered as he ran into a large cobweb, pausing to push the silken strands from his mouth and eyes.

As he looked up again the mist had gone but his blood ran cold none the less. He threw a hand to his hearts, paling at the sight. He turned on his heel and sprinted back towards the TARDIS as fast as his legs would carry him as a desperate cry ran out around the peaks from the grave stone he had left behind.


	5. The Banshee

Rose woke to the artificial sunlight filtering into the bedroom she currently occupied. She felt beside her, expecting to come into contact with familiar cool skin and a double heart beat but she felt nothing but the silk of the sheets beneath her palm. She opened her eyes, frowning as she saw the bed had been vacated some time before and the Doctor's clothes were missing. She hugged the duvet around herself a little tighter, settling back against the pillows and listening out for him to come back into the room to wake her. She imagined breakfast in bed, or him looking ruffled from working on the TARDIS, causing her to have to pet his fly away hair in order to make it a little more manageable. She waited for the light footfalls but they still didn't come. Huffing she got out of bed and pulled on her dressing gown, padding out of the room on bare feet and wincing slightly as she hit the cold grating of the corridor.

She made her way down to the kitchen, coffee her first priority before looking for her errant Time Lord. She heard the radio crackling away softly to itself, the alien melody hitting her senses with a calming familiarity. She stood by the doorway, watching him as he stuck his fingers in the jar of marmalade like a four year old, licking the sticky orange pieces off his hand.

"A spoon would be a better idea," she said. Her heart freezing as he jumped in alarm, nearly sending the jar crashing off the work top. He whirled round to face her, his face ashen for a second before turning into a devastating smile.

"You startled me," he said wiping his hands on a nearby tea towel.

"Something on your mind?" said Rose wandering over to him as he held his arms open to her.

"Only you," he said tilting her face up to his and pressing his lips to hers in a desperate kiss as he wound his fingers into her hair. Rose kissed him back, pleasantly surprised at his display of affection having been so sweetly chaste the night before. He tasted of marmalade. She pulled back as the need to breathe took over and stared up at him, seeing the hastily concealed relief in his eyes.

"I thought we said we were going to take things slow?" she said as his fingers settled into a lighter touch at the back of her neck.

"I couldn't resist you," he said, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes.

"Something's wrong…"

"Don't be daft…"

"Something's wrong," Rose said more firmly, "You've got that look about you, that haunted one you used to get when you were the old you. You used to look like that when you talked about Gallifrey. Did you dream about them or something?"

"You know me too well," said the Doctor turning his face away from her as he blatantly lied to her, not wanting her to see the deceit in his eyes. Her hands smoothed down the lapels of his brown pinstripe suit as she ducked her head to capture his gaze.

"You should have woken me if you were upset," she said, "You always used to. We used to have hot chocolate and marshmallows and you'd tell me about your old adventures in that silly northern accent of yours, I…I miss that…I miss that part of us."

"Oh Rose…" said the Doctor, seeing the sadness in her eyes as she talked about his old incarnation. He took her hands and laid them against his hearts, "Feel that?"

Rose nodded slowly as she felt the erratic double heart beat under her hands.

"Remember that first time I ever held you? We'd just left Platform One and you were upset about the Earth blowing up. You noticed my hearts and we sat down in the console room for an hour just so you could listen to them. They're the same hearts Rose, the ones that beat then are the ones that beat now. He's still here, still with you…I'm still here Rose and perhaps I'm a little different, perhaps you can't see the man I was but I'm still here. I still need you, want you and love you as much as I did back then."

"You loved me?"

"No Rose, I love you. Present tense."

"Oh Doctor…"

"You'd better stop that before Mickey wakes up."

The couple turned to see Jackie standing in the doorway, her arms folded across her chest and her mouth set in a scowl. The Doctor noticeably cowered as she began to stalk over to them, her hand coming up ready to slap him. He ducked out of the way as she took a swipe at him and safely positioned himself with the kitchen table between him and her. She turned to her daughter and Rose shrank back as angry eyes turned on her.

"What do you think you're playing at?" said Jackie.

Rose would have been more comfortable if her mother had been screaming at her but the cool, clipped tone of her voice sent shivers up her spine.

"Mum we…It's only new," said Rose, "I was going to talk to Mickey today, I swear."

"He is an alien!" said Jackie pointing to the Doctor, "A thing! And you're just…oh you're disgusting. I knew this would happen. You've been fawning over him since the day he first brought you home."

"Jackie that's not…"

"And you!" she cried, turning on the Doctor once more, "You're taking advantage of her! Flashy space ship and aliens. Cuddling up to her all week, pretending that you give a damn that her Nan's dead."

The Doctor's eyes darkened at her words and he stalked round the table, "Oh I give a damn Jackie. I sat and watched Rose cry when I told her and I brought her home as soon as I could and I have put up with all your god awful domestics ever since! Now your daughter is a grown, sensible woman and I love her and if she wants to be with me then that is her choice but I have never, ever forced her to do anything she didn't want to," he said, his voice the same clipped tone Jackie had used.

He turned to Rose and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I'll be back later," he said as he pushed passed Jackie and out of the door.

"God riddance to you and all!" cried Jackie to his back before turning back to her daughter, "I'm disappointed in you Rose."

"Why? Because I'm making something of myself, because I care about him?"

"So it's only care on your part?" said Jackie, the spiteful tone of her voice something Rose had never heard directed at her, "And there's him saying he loves you."

"I do love him," said Rose, "We've loved each other from the day we met and before you start going on about it I don't mean romantically. It's so much deeper than anything like that, he's my best friend."

"He is a bloody alien whose first name you don't even know. Mickey might not be the guy I dreamed of you marrying but at least he's human."

"Who said anything about marriage?" said Rose feeling the tears in her eyes at her mother's tone, "I don't even know if the Doctor's people did marry and I never will because they're gone and he's all on his own Mum. Imagine how we felt when Nan died and then times it by a million, he lost everyone and he's all on his own, so if loving me stops him feeling so totally isolated then I will care for him until I die because he's my friend and I love him."

Jackie's expression lost its hardened edge but didn't soften totally at her daughter's words, "Go and get dressed," she said, "Speak to Mickey and then get yourself over to that house and get cleaning. If you're Doctor is so upset by domestics then we'd better get this place finished so you can go off and leave us again."

"Mum…"

"Go Rose."

XXXX

The Doctor only noticed how far he'd gone when he reached the village. He noticed the faces of the people around him, shrinking away from him slightly as he shot a scowl in their direction. He didn't know whether to be angry or hurt or upset by what Jackie had said to him but he did know that he felt guilty for abandoning Rose at the TARDIS. He was set to turn back when he saw the tiny little library on the corner of the street and the night before came flooding back to him. He crossed the street and entered the tumble down old building, causing the librarian to look up in concern, clearly she didn't get many visitors.

The Doctor nearly laughed as he regarded the middle aged woman before him, dressed stereotypically in tweed with her glasses perched on the end of his nose.

"Morning," he said brightly, crossing into the book shelf lined room behind her.

"Can I help you sir?" she asked politely, watching him as he scurried from shelf to shelf.

"Just here to do some research. I'm not a member, is that alright?"

The lady smiled, "Of course but you won't be able to take anything out I'm afraid, Mister…?"

"Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor will do," he said warmly, "And you are?"

"Mary, Mary Jones," said the lady extending her hand to him. The Doctor shook it warmly.

"Is there anything in particular that you're looking for Doctor? Are you visiting or on holiday?"

"I'm looking for some of the town's history particularly surrounding the old house about a mile that way," said the Doctor pointing out of the window in the direction of the house, "Big, stone gothic looking thing. My…friend…my companion's mother has just inherited it and we've been down trying to make it liveable, it's a bit neglected."

He watched as Mary's face paled dramatically. She shot a look to wear he was pointing before gripping the tiny cross that hung around her neck, "You're moving in there?"

"Not exactly," said the Doctor warily, "We travel a lot and I think they're only going to use it as a holiday home. Is there something wrong with the place, it seems a little dodgy structurally?"

"You don't know about…about…" She beckoned him over and he bent down to let her whisper, "About the curse?"

The Doctor huffed out a laugh, "What curse? The curse of the broken fingernail or the curse of the noisy fox because trust me, we suffered both yesterday and there's no harm done…"

The librarian clapped a hand over his mouth to silence him, her eyes darting around her, "Don't make jokes…you make jokes and they know."

The Doctor pulled away, an eyebrow raised in question. He should have expected the typical village thinking of ghosts and ghouls haunting an old abandoned house. He'd had quite enough of hysterical women for one morning, "I don't think I'm the kind of Doctor you need," he said stepping towards the door, "I'll be off then…they'll be wondering where I've got to anyway."

His hand had reached the door before Mary spoke again, "You've seen the grave stone haven't you? You have that look of one whose seen it, whose heard the cry when there was nothing there. Go to it later and you'll see that there is nothing written upon the stone and no body lies in the ground beneath it," she said causing the Doctor to turn back to her.

Her eyes were so desperate it almost made the Doctor ran from the place, start the TARDIS and return to the familiar safety of the Powell Estate.

"Take your family, your companion, your sweetheart, whoever you have with you and go, go and leave that dreadful place."

In Mary's desperate eyes the Doctor could see something familiar and realised that he had worn the same look himself in the mirror that morning. He took her hand, "What did you see?"

Mary pulled back from him sharply, "Something I don't speak of," she said, "But believe me. I know you're an educated man, I can see it and you probably don't believe country myths but that place is evil and you should get away."

"I don't run away," said the Doctor, "Not any more."

"Then God keep you," said Mary, "No one from here will help you if you choose that place."

The Doctor pulled open the glass fire door and stepped outside into the air of the street, casting his eyes in the direction of the house. He looked back to see Mary had turned to the bookcase behind her and was frantically rearranging the books, her hand occasionally brushing at her cheek as if she was pushing away tears. He resisted the urge to go back and comfort here but at the same time he did not head for home. Books were one thing, local gossip was quite another, turning his feet to the nearby café he went to find someone who would tell him the legend of Jackie's house.

XXXX

The nursery wasn't nearly as bad in daylight. The sunlight streamed into the room from the large window, its heavy drapes pulled away and the grime scrubbed off as the first job of the morning. From the window Rose could see the TARDIS and beyond that the little road leading to the village and she often checked it to see if she could see the Doctor's form returning. He had been gone nearly six hours, lunch having come and gone with no sign of him returning. If it hadn't been for the TARDIS parked outside Rose would have feared that he had left her but it remained a comfort in front of the house. He had probably stalked off somewhere to brood over his argument with Jackie that morning and would return with a spring in his step that afternoon, having stomped out his bad mood over on the wild fields surrounding them.

Rose wished she'd gone with him, a miserable mother and a distraught now ex-boyfriend had proved little comfort to her in the house. She had spoken to Mickey as promised and received the reaction she had expected. He had soon gone off into the garden and at her last glance from the kitchen window had seen him taking his frustrations out on a fairly stubborn tree branch. Her mother had refused to speak to her, the only occasions she broke her silence was to bark orders about what had to be done next. Despite her fears surrounding the upstairs of the house, Rose had found the prospect of whatever nasties may or may not reside up there much more appealing than the atmosphere downstairs. Grabbing everything she would need so she would not have to return downstairs she made for the upper floor, cleaning nearly all of the bedrooms save for one which the sonic screwdriver was needed to open before heading to the room that had scared her the most. Needing to prove herself she had pushed open the door and stepped inside, shining the small torch she had brought around the room before darting over and pulling open the curtains.

The grimy light had filled the room and illuminated it for what it was, a dusty but charming nursery. When the windows had been thoroughly cleaned Rose had made her way around dusting before mopping the old wooden floor. She had thought to return downstairs to help when the job was done but had chosen instead to admire the old fashioned toys and games now surrounding her. She has wound up an old music box and a gentle nursery rhyme had pierced the silence and made the place sound homely once again. She learned the tune quickly, rewinding the clockwork mechanism each time it ran down so she could listen to the melody again. She surmised that there must have been both a boy and a girl in the small nursery judging by the wooden swords propped up against an elegant doll's house. She had found herself wondering what the Doctor's childhood was like, seemingly being able to fit an image of him as an infant in amongst the items before her.

Without much else to do but not wishing to undertake the back breaking task of the attic. she set about resetting the large doll's house, dusting and replacing all the furniture and tiny dolls. She hummed away happily to herself as she placed a tiny little mahogany wood sofa against one of the delicately papered wooden walls, the last piece to complete the little house. She heard voices filtering through the window she had managed to open and got up to look out, as she expected seeing the Doctor calling out to her Mum and to her surprise offering her up a bunch of flowers. Jackie took them grudgingly before a small smile came to her face and she motioned the Doctor into the house. Rose made to move downstairs but then turned back to close the front of the doll's house. She paused as the small pieces of furniture lay scattered around the base of the house where they had once been placed neatly inside. She hadn't heard them fall.

Her eyes didn't leave the scene before her as she heard footsteps on the staircase.

"Rose?" came a welcome voice, "Rose are you up here?"

"In here," she called.

She felt him enter the room without having to look up and he whistled in appreciation at the sight around him.

"You've done a good job, brilliant even," said the Doctor wandering around the small room, running a finger experimentally over the dresser top and finding it dust free, "I should set you loose on the TARDIS… Rose?"

He came and stood beside her, looking at the doll's house, "You been playing dollies while I was gone? And here's me planning on giving those aching shoulders of yours a rub for being busy all day. Rose, what's the matter?"

"I put those pieces away," she said, "I put them away then I heard you outside and when I turned back they were on the floor."

The Doctor moved her to one side and bounced experimentally on the floor boards in front of her. One creaked dramatically and the little doll's house tipped enough to let the small pieces of furniture still within it to tumble silently onto the deep pile rug the house stood on. He turned to Rose with a triumphant smile but it dropped as he saw her face set in self revulsion.

"You must think I'm stupid," she said, "Scaring myself all the time."

The Doctor slipped an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the room, "No I don't," he said as they made there way along the landing to the stairs, hearing Jackie humming away as she cleaned one of the bedrooms, clearly Rose had missed a spot, "This is a spooky old house and a few freak occurrences have got you a little jumpy, that's all. Besides, I have a little confession to make."

"Go on," said Rose, stepping in front of him as they carefully picked their way down the stairs.

"I went for a poke about last night and… well its best if I show you."

She gave him a bemused look as he took her hand once more and led her through to the kitchen and out the back door into the over grown garden. Mickey shot them a pained look but said nothing, continuing to hack at the unfortunate tree that was currently the vent of his frustrations. Rose noticed the Doctor's enquiring eyes as he gazed around them, leading her along a direct path through the waist high grass. Rose yelped in pain as a large stinging nettle slipped under the hem of her thin t-shirt, irritating her.

"You found nettles," she said accusingly at the Doctor as he rolled up her shirt slightly and ran the blue light of the sonic screwdriver over her side, the irritation cooling instantly, "Is there nothing that thing can't do?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow and then laughed to himself, "I seem to have developed a rather filthy mind," he said before turning his back to her and motioning for her to climb up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to lift her onto his back, his arms secure beneath her knees.

"And what filthy thoughts would you be having about a sonic screwdriver?" she said as he kept her lifted above the nettles.

"Best I keep them till tonight," he said causing her to purr against him but it soon turned to a shriek as they broke free from the nettles and he dumped her back onto her feet. She shot him a venomous stare.

"You try carrying you for more than ten metres and tell me how heavy you are, I'm only little!" he said indicating his rather skinny frame, "And even though your curves are in all the right places they…"

"Unless you want a famed Tyler slap I'd stop there and…wha…what the holy hell is that?" she cried, pointing behind him, "A gravestone, there's a sodding gravestone in my back yard! Oh God Doctor you're standing right on it, get off it!"

The Doctor gripped her hands in his as she tried to pull him off the ground before the gravestone, stepping off it only to calm her.

"Rose it's a fake," he said, stepping aside from the stone, cut into the form of a Celtic cross. He knelt down and ran the sonic screwdriver over the ground. Standing and showing it to her as it beeped, "See, no sign of any human matter for the passed eight hundred years. Its probably either a sick joke or a souvenir brought back to the house years ago."

Rose still looked wary, "You said you had a confession and I have a feeling its something to do with this."

The Doctor shook his head, "I found this last night and I heard a noise that sent me running back to the TARDIS like a five year old, so you're not the only one getting jumpy around this place. Thing is, unlike you, I can rationalise my fear. Let me show you."

He stepped beyond the gravestone into some reeds behind, holding a hand out to stop her following, "Stay there, it's a bit boggy round here and I only just bought you those trainers, don't want them getting sucked into the mud. I want you to picture the scene, dead of night, silent all around and I'm at the back door of the house. I see a mist rise up over here and curious creature I am I go and investigate. I find this gravestone and hear…"

Rose watched him duck down in the reeds and heard the sonic screwdriver click before a column of misty steam rose up and a dreadful screaming noise echoed around her. She jumped in alarm but settled as the Doctor stood up smiling.

"Peat bog!" he said as if it explained everything.

"And…" said Rose as he pulled the face he always did when she questioned his explanations.

"Peat bogs let off gases and noises occasionally, chemical reaction and heat. It's the basis of the Irish Banshee stories. I was here last night, saw a mist go up from the bog, came running over and that screaming noise you heard echoed out. In the cold light of day a very simple explanation but by moonlight it scared even me."

Rose took his hand as he climbed back onto the bank next to the gravestone, "So what you're saying is its not supernatural, its science?"

"Precisely," said the Doctor, "That house and these grounds are no more haunted than the TARDIS. Now clearly legends have sprung up but I heard several in the village today and none add up at all. Just a creepy old house that needs a good clean and its ex owners rubbish thrown in the bin. So will you stop worrying? Let's just get the job done, help your mum and then we can go and find something in the universe that we actually should be scared of."

Rose paused for a minute as she considered his words and then gave him a warm smile, "Spoil sport!" she said with a giggle, "Was quite beginning to enjoy the thought of a ghost hunt."

"You are useless," said the Doctor as she forcibly climbed onto his back once more, "Come on then woman, back to the house, I'm sure your mother has the marigolds waiting for me."


	6. Local Legends

Pub. That had been the first word to leave the Doctor's lips as they returned to the house and met with Mickey and Jackie. Pub equalled food, equalled booze and equalled a change from the drudgery of cleaning the prehistoric house. The choice was soon agreed on by all parties, even Mickey agreed to the excursion and seemed to brighten at the thought, even managing to make a friendly bet with the Doctor over who would be the first to get drunk. Making into the TARDIS to change allowed each member of the band some time alone but Rose soon found her own company to be boring and quickly showered and changed as before making her way to his room.

She heard his gentle off key voice as he sang away in his own tongue. She pushed open the door but her heart stopped at the scene that greeted her. She hadn't thought she could ever react so violently to a piece of clothing but seeing it now, so familiar, she felt a lump rise in her throat and she let out a choked sob. The sound caught the Doctor's attention and he turned around with a puzzled look on his face.

"Rose?"

Rose didn't reply as she took in his appearance, his plimsolls exchanged for plain black shoes and his pinstripe suit replaced by dark blue denim jeans and a baby blue shirt but it was the jacket, worn, black familiar leather that had made Rose sob.

"Why are you…that jacket, why are you wearing it?" she said, her eyes not leaving the item of clothing.

The Doctor sighed heavily, regarding his own clothes, "Oh Rose I'm sorry, I didn't even think. I just fancied a change and it still fits ok," he said, as he shrugged out of it and threw it down on the bed, "There, I won't wear it. I didn't mean to upset you, I didn't realise that silly old thing meant so much to you."

Rose still didn't meet his eyes and she headed to the bed, running her hand over the fabric of the jacket before picking it up and burying her face in it, inhaling deeply.

"Still smells of you," she said, her voice muffled by the lining, "The old you. The Calvin Klein I bought, you don't wear it anymore."

"Ran out," said the Doctor gently as he lowered the coat from her face, "I've got loads of other jackets, let me put this one away."

Rose pulled the coat away from him gently before wrapping it around his shoulders, encouraging him top put his arms in the sleeves. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in the cool leather as his arms came around her.

"I miss you," she whispered.

"I know Rose," he said as she pulled back, finally meeting his eyes and smiling.

"Still suits you," she said with a slight nod of her head as if finally agreeing with herself, "Yes, still suits you, not quite as well as before but it still suits you. I think I can cope with you wearing it, just…I like the suit too."

The Doctor nudged her chin with his fingertips, "Then the suit stays if my best friend says so," he said pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, "Come on then, let's go get some grub, I'm starving after all the work I've done today."

Rose raised an eyebrow as she slipped her arm through his, "Oh yes, so very busy."

"I was investigating," said the Doctor as they left the room and headed towards the control room.

"Harassing librarians does not mean you were working," said Rose as they stepped into the cavernous room.

"What's that about librarians?" said Mickey, springing up from the captain's chair and eyeing the Doctor's outfit with suspicion, "What's with that old rag again?"

The Doctor's hand flew over his hearts in mock affront before he stroked the sleeve of his jacket affectionately, "Don't listen to the nasty ape," he said making Rose giggle at his side and Jackie roll her eyes in despair as a tut echoed from beside the door.

"Are we going to get food or not?" she demanded, hands on hips as her foot tapped out an angry rhythm.

Rose stepped away from the Doctor and went to the door, pulling it open and stepping out into the warm night air, "By the right then," she said. She could imagine the faces behind her, Jackie less than impressed, Mickey confused and the Doctor smiling at there reactions. As the TARDIS door closed firmly behind them they headed off towards the village.

XXXX

The Queen's Head pub was one of those typical old country pubs which were wonderfully rustic, allowing anyone present to still imagine the sawdust on the floor and robbers and rogues propping up the bar after a sufficient intake of whatever local brew was to be found. The pub was small but cosy and not many of the village folk were inside when they arrived. Of course there had been the customary silence when they entered the room but Rose had secretly grabbed the Doctor somewhere that convinced him that one of his 'clever' comments was not appropriate at the time. Instead the only sound to be heard was his rather high pitched cough and Rose was relieved that the pub went back to its chatter as she tightened her hand slightly and elicited probably the most carnal growl she would ever hear from the man behind her. She had smiled to herself as she released him before studiously reading the dusty old blackboard that showed them they had the choice of anything so long as it was either roast chicken or roast beef.

They ordered and sat in a quiet corner, eating and chatting in a way that any normal people would but they were soon aware of the eyes on them, the growing silence in the room. The door creaked on its hinges as more of the villagers arrived for the evening, the night darkening outside. The deep accents made their occasional audible comments hard to decipher but the Doctor got the idea. He saw the quizzical look on Rose's face as the last comment floated passed.

"I don't think they like us much do you?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper so only their group could hear.

"Why not?" cried Jackie, causing a hush to descend on the room and several more eyes to turn to them.

"Mum…"

"No, I want to know, why don't they like us? What have we done wrong? It was you wasn't it," she said pointing an finger at the Doctor, "You probably came down here and stirred things up this morning."

"Mum shut up, you're making a scene," said Rose hiding behind her hand and her hair.

Jackie paused for a moment before scanning the unfamiliar faces that were all turned towards her. She puffed herself up before speaking directly to them, "And what are you lot staring it?"

People quickly turned away and regained their conversations as the Doctor chuckled softly into his pint glass, actually growing quite fond of Jackie's inappropriate outbursts. It was only the sound of two male voices behind him that quieted his laughter.

"Frank leave 'em be, they don't mean no harm."

"People aught to tell 'em," said a slightly more slurred voice, accompanied by the scraping sound of a bar stool and followed by heavy footfalls.

The Doctor's hand found Rose's beneath the table and laced their fingers together as he turned his head to see the man coming towards him. Burly, was the first word that came to mind, pissed being the second. The man's white hair was combed over his head in a vein attempt to cover his baldness and his eyebrows protruded at least an inch from his face, wiry and matted. His clothes bore dirt marks and his hands were almost black with grime and chapped with work, clearly a land worker. The Doctor gave him an open smile but his face soon fell as he moved his body slightly between Rose and the oncoming figure, not liking the expression on his face.

The man jabbed a podgy finger at the group, swaying slightly as he came to a halt.

"We don't like your lot round 'ere," he said, the stench of whisky finding its way to their senses as he spoke.

"What lot?" said the Doctor with his usual cheeky expression.

"Aliens," said the man.

The Doctor noticeably paled and his grip on Rose's hand tightened, "Aliens?"

"Foreigners," said the man, his swaying subsiding and his pointing finger wavering from the Doctor to the boy behind him, "Don't like foreigners round here."

Mickey sniffed in disgust, "Oh I get it!" he said getting to his feet and making to move towards the man before Jackie grabbed his sleeve, "I was born in this country so who are you calling foreign."

"Mickey just sit down and ignore him," said Rose shooting her friend a pleading look.

Mickey sniffed again and fluffed up the collar of his denim jacket before sitting back in the chair, returning his attention to the scraps of food left on his plate. The drunken man laughed, swaying once again.

"The monkey takes his orders from the organ grinder," he sneered, causing even those who had been shooting venomous glances at the group all night to gasp at the comment.

Mickey didn't get a chance to speak as the Doctor shot to his feet, grabbing the man's arm and pinning it up behind his back, "Too far pal," he said as the man struggled and failed in his grip, "That was way too far."

"Get your hands off me," said the man, struggling again.

"Doctor let him go," pleaded Rose, "Don't start a fight."

The Doctor gave her a brief look of agreement but took a moment before releasing the drunk, "Now you listen here, you watch your mouth around my friends alright because trust me, right now I'm being very, very calm and you would not like me when I'm angry. Now shove off and leave us in peace, we won't bother you any more if you just turn around and ignore us. Got it?"

The man wriggled again in the Doctor's grip.

"I'll take that as a yes," said the Doctor releasing his grip.

The drunk began to walk away before wheeling round and aiming a punch at the Doctor who easily side stepped his poor aim, letting the man go crashing to the floor with his own force. Laughter rang out in the small pub but only a faint smile etched the Doctor's features as the man got to his feet and stumbled red faced from the bar. The Doctor sat back in his chair an turned his attention to the rim of his glass, one slim finger tracing the rim as if the passed five minutes hadn't occurred.

Mickey and Jackie announced a trip to the bar while Rose tried to capture the Doctor's gaze. When that failed she spoke, "He could have hurt you," she said stilling his hand on the glass.

"No harm done," said the Doctor flashing her his customary grin, "He was just an idiot, needed putting in his place."

"I never thought I'd see you defend Mickey," she said massaging her fingers over the back if his hand.

"I'd defend anyone from a comment like that. Ignorant gits like that they…they wind me up," he said, snatching his hand away from Rose's grip. He huffed out a tired laugh before taking her hand again, "Sorry. Just ignore me, you know people like that get to me."

"I know," said Rose, using her free hand to stroke the back of his hair, "Do you want to go home? Mickey can walk Mum back."

The Doctor looked over to the bar where Mickey and Jackie appeared to have struck up a conversation with another couple who were quite obviously tourists. He sighed and looked back to Rose, "Would you mind?"

"No," she said, "Let's go."

"Knew there was a reason I picked you," said the Doctor pressing a brief kiss to her lips, "Hmmm, I'm getting quite used to that now."

Rose didn't pull back too far, "Well, they do say practice makes perfect."

"Fantastic saying," said the Doctor.

"I agree."

A deliberate cough pulled their lips from each other only a second after they had met and they both looked up sheepishly to see the bar man standing over them with two drinks in his hands. He set them down with an amused smile at their expressions.

"From your friends over there," he said indicating to Mickey and Jackie.

"Thanks," said the Doctor with a slightly embarrassed smile, "Sorry, yes thank you. Very kind."

Rose was not pleased as the bar man took Jackie's vacated stool, resting his elbows on the table and looking set for a long conversation. He seemed to be fighting to find the right words before he settled and looked back to their faces.

"So you bought the old Proctor place did you?"

"Proctor place?" said Rose.

"The house," said the Doctor, "We didn't buy it. It was an inheritance, we're just here looking it over and cleaning it up a bit. Come to tell us another tale of terror?"

Rose nudged the Doctor in the ribs at the sarcasm that laced his words and he moaned in protest. The bar man chuckled at the pair before speaking again.

"No, you won't hear none from me. Lot's of local legends around that place, hard to keep them straight. I do warn you though, the people round here won't take kindly to your being here if you live there, some say the place is cursed, evil. They think you coming down here is bringing the evil from the house to the village. Sheep was found dead this afternoon and you lot were mentioned."

"Oh God it's a witch hunt," said the Doctor, leaning back in his chair, "Why exactly are we bringing 'evil' here?"

"Like I say," said the bar man, "My line of work I hear all the stories. Most agree the place is haunted but by what they don't know. Lots of stories of murders, cults, devil worship. Of course all kicked off in the early sixties when a bunch of kids went up there creating havoc, they'd heard the legends and wanted to see if it was true. Some old lady lived up there then, everyone said she was a witch, just kept herself to herself but she only lived in one room in the house. All the upstairs bedrooms stayed locked and unused. Stories said she had monsters up there."

"How wonderfully B movie," said the Doctor clearly tiring of the tale already.

"Problem was the old woman had gone off to visit her sister that weekend and there was no one in the house. They found the kids out on the peaks the next morning, well five of them anyway. All silent and terrified, wouldn't speak of anything they'd seen and when we asked where the two Johnson boys they were with had disappeared to they just pointed at the house. Police went down there, opened the place up and had a look around but there was no one there. People thought they'd just run off, wanted to scare their parents. That was forty odd years ago, no ones seen hide nor hair of those lads since. Them kids were never the same either, went all funny, would never talk about that night. Even took them to experts in Manchester and Liverpool but they never got it out of them."

The Doctor straightened in his chair somewhat as a thought occurred to him, "One of those kids, Mary Jones, the librarian, was she one of them?"

"I think she was you know, yep she would have been. Her brother Patrick got taken in for questioning by the police, thought they might have done away with the Johnson boys and hidden the bodies but nothing was proved. Mary followed him everywhere back then. Why'd you ask?"

"No reason," said the Doctor with a non committal shrug, "She just seemed a bit odd when I met her today. Well look, its been lovely chatting but we really should be getting back."

"Nice to meet you," said Rose as she followed the Doctor to their feet, shooting a farewell glance at Mickey and Jackie who waved them off without much of a second glance. The Doctor took her hand and led her from the pub, the silence surrounding them as the door swung firmly shut behind them.

They'd only gone a few steps when the Doctor felt Rose tug on his hand, pulling him to a stop. He turned to her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile, a quip ready on his tongue but when he saw the tears in her eyes reflecting the starlight back at him his expression immediately softened to one of concern.

"What…what do you think happened to those boys Doctor?"

The Doctor sighed deeply before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and convincing her to walk onwards, "I think," he began, his tone low, "That they either ran away as boys that age tend to do or perhaps there was an accident when they were out, covered up by the other kids for fear of punishment. Nothing supernatural or anything like that before you think about it. Its tragic, the peaks are dangerous places especially for children but don't you start thinking its ghosts and ghoulies again. You'd turn this place into the Blair Witch Project if you could wouldn't you?"

Rose laughed at herself, snuggling deeper into his leather clad chest and breathing in the old familiar scent as it mingled with the new, her head growing light as it meandered through her being, warm and safe.

"I still think its weird," she said, "Lots of creepy coincidences."

"Precisely, coincidences," said the Doctor, he hummed away to himself as he thought before speaking again, "You know what, I'll make you a bet. I bet I can spend a night sleeping in that house, in one of those old bedrooms and I'll sleep like a baby. No doubt about it."

"Doctor…"

"Rose, if I thought that place was in the least bit dangerous do you think I'd be suggesting it?"

"Yes," said Rose firmly, "You'd do it and endure whatever it threw at you just to prove a point. Well you're not the only one who can prove a point, I'll stay with you."

"In a haunted house?"

"I thought it wasn't haunted," said Rose looking up at him and seeing the laughter in his eyes. His eyes seemed to cloud with a look that was both terrifyingly dangerous but welcome and Rose felt herself shuddered despite the warm air.

"I can't promise you that you won't be in danger though," his voice dropping to a register she had never heard him use before. He lowered his face into the hollow between her shoulder and her neck, his voice muffled against her skin, "Because since last night I've been thinking vampirism isn't such a bad thing."

Rose let out a delighted squeal as he pressed an open mouth kiss to her neck, his teeth scraping gently over the delicate flesh.

"I thought we were taking things slowly," she said, her voice coming out in a breathy gasp.

The Doctor pulled back quickly, a blush heightening on his cheeks, visible even in the darkness, "Sorry, was that too much?"

Rose laced her fingers at the back of his neck, "Not too much at all," she said softly, "I just don't want to rush this, do too much too soon. We're not ready for that yet, not really, even though we want to. Doctor two days ago we were best friends and today, well we're that and more and I just want to make sure we don't ruin anything by going too fast. I'm not saying not ever, just not now."

The Doctor smiled as her hands ran down his arms to clasp his own. He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, "When did you get so wise?"

"Learnt from the best," she said as they carried along the road that led out of the village, the roof of the house visible and shrouded in moonlight over the ridge of the hill.

XXXX

The room slowly swam into vision. The light of the one remaining lit candle illuminating the sharp, decorative edges of the late Victorian furniture, bathing the room in a flickering gold decadence. The heavy duvet that had been dragged from the TARDIS had been kicked to the floor in the heat, crumpling on the floor like a deflated toasted marshmallow, inviting but impossible. Where the light failed to touch great shadows rose up like towers of malevolence, held at bay in the corners by one tiny flickering flame. There was no noise save for the delicate, comforting silence of another person in the room, a presence that was at once soundless but comfortingly loud.

The Doctor stared down at the figure sleeping deeply beside him, her tiny body turned away from him yet pressed firmly against his chest, her legs fitting comfortably between his own and her hair splayed out on the pillow, its silk imprint still leaving a sensation on his cheek. He tore his thoughts away from her as he pondered over what woke him. Jackie and Mickey had refused to join them on their little sleepover in the house, Jackie complaining the remaining dust would give her allergies. They'd retired to the room that the Doctor had originally scared Rose in, it being the only one clean enough to give them a proper night's rest, and had slowly fallen into a peaceful sleep.

Their clothes were strewn on the floor of the bedroom but purely through both their messy attitudes rather than any fits of passion. Rose had even modestly slipped behind a dressing screen in the corner to slip into her nightdress before unceremoniously dumping her discarded clothes on top of the Doctor's in a heap on the floor. The only thing lovingly laid on the ottoman at the foot of the bed being the well worn and well loved leather jacket. Rose had fallen into the bed laughing as the Doctor had recited her sonnets in his best Shakespearean voice before having her screaming with terrified delight at several ghost stories he knew. She hadn't taken fright by them though as all throughout his tales his hands had gently caressed intricate patterns on her back, finally pushing his fingers inside her nightdress to delicately map the smooth skin from the base of her spine to her shoulders. The touch had soon soothed Rose into a gentle slumber and the Doctor had joined her soon after, both of the managing to turn in their sleep into the positions they took up now.

The Doctor was pulled from his reverie as he heard a scratching noise from the corner. He looked up, expecting to see the glass pinprick of a mouse's eyes as they glimmered in the candle light. Nothing appeared to him and the noise had subsided. He closed his eyes again and lay his head back on the pillow, his nose buried in the silken strands of blonde next to him. His eyes opened again of their own accord and he found himself sitting up and staring once more at the corner, the fine hair on the back of his neck all standing to attention, so much so that his hand came up to rub his neck in frustration at the feeling. His eyes caught the movement then, subtle but visible, winking on and off like a computer left on stand by but nothing electrical existed in the house. A small red light, flashing for a nano second, on and off in an erratic pattern in the corner.

The Doctor swung his legs out of the bed, slowly as not to wake Rose, his eyes never leaving the point in the corner. He slipped his feet into his discarded shoes, his pyjama pants hanging loosely over the sides and catching beneath slightly. He got to his feet and quickly removed the sonic screwdriver from the pocket of his leather jacket, feeling a semblance of his old self join him as his hands connected with the cool material.

"You'd laugh 'em off if you were here," he said the thin air, his voice barely a breathy whisper.

He made his way over to the corner the room at once feeling both too wide and too narrow as he approached the shadowed crevice. The screwdriver buzzed in his hand as he flicked it on, scanning for any life signs. The read out was a haywire mismatched of both negative and positive readings and the Doctor shock the treasured instrument roughly.

"Useless thing," he muttered.

The little light had appeared to have winked out but the feeling hadn't left him. A feeling crept from the base of his spine and focused itself over his shoulder, it was almost the feeling he got whenever Rose was watching him work on the TARDIS over his shoulder or when he was attempting to read a paper on the rare occasions she persuaded him to get the Underground and some tourist was taking great pleasure in reading beside him. He steadied his grip on the sonic screwdriver and whirled round, not knowing what he'd see. The room stretched out, cavernous and eerie around him. So much for sleeping like a baby. He rolled his shoulders, dismissing the creeping sensations in his body and turned his feet towards the bed.

He saw it then, out of the corner of his eye, blinking on and off in the framed darkness of the doorway. It was beckoning him, he felt the childlike voice in the back of his mind willing him towards while at the same time screaming for him to wake Rose and cower behind her. He always ignored the more sensible one. His feet took, small tentative steps to the door, pausing for a second as he considered fetching up the candle on the dresser but then catching a glimpse of Rose and knowing he had only kept it alight for her benefit. His eyesight was perfectly fine in the dark but the light of the candle would be a comforting beacon in the blackness. Without thinking he pulled the leather jacket on, his old armour as he viewed it set to protect him once more.

He slipped out of the bedroom, the light always just out of reach, leading him along the creepy old corridor, the floorboards creaking mercilessly beneath his feet. He mused that any enemy would be able to sneak up on him unheard as his own footfalls echoed like an entire orchestral percussion section in the silence. The light stopped winking on and off and began to buzz around like a firefly at the end of the corridor. As the Doctor approached it winked out completely but the feeling did not leave. He flicked on the sonic screwdriver, clicking through the settings until a rarely seen white light came from its power source, providing an adequate torch but it barely did anything to chase away the blackness.

He recognised the door before him, heavy, oak and flaky with age old varnish. The nursery. He heard it then, just beyond even his defining hearing, beyond the door, behind the door. A soft, scratching sound, like a cat trying to open a door, its claws not bared or not concealed either. His mind flipped to an exhibit he'd seen of coffin lids bearing scratch marks where people had been buried alive and tried to scratch their way out. He shuddered at the thought, cursing his surfacing irrational mind. He found himself chanting the Gallifreyan alphabet under his breath.

He pressed his ear to the door, the scratching sound almost feeling like it was right beneath his ear, dragging him down. He sank to his knees, not sitting back on his ankles but enough to bring his ear to the keyhole. That's when the sound was augmented by another in its macabre chorus. It was soft, stifled as if to be heard would be worse than the fate that had created it. His blood ran cold, he'd been a father, he'd heard the secret sobs when some heart break had come to his infant that they could not share. He heard it now, tiny, stifled sobs. Heart breaking in their innocence. He pressed his ear more firmly to the door, perhaps to hear more, perhaps to hear less but to hear all the same. He could not deny the sound.

"Is someone there?" he said, his voice audible but strained, "Are you there?"

The crying continued and he felt his hand reach for the door handle, "I'm going to come in. You don't have to be frightened, I'm a friend."

He knew words were being said but he couldn't make them out, it was almost like listening to a radio not quite in tune, the static making the words unclear. His hand stilled for a moment on the door as he pushed up to his feet but then he pressed down on the handle and pushed the door open.

The empty room stared back at him, moonlight illuminating the children's toys from the undraped windows. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, his hand coming to his hearts and then his face as he rubbed his suddenly tired eyes. The door slammed shut with a ferocity he hand never witnessed, impacting fully with him and sending him sprawling to the floor. He waited for his back to hit the wooden floor but instead he felt something firm yet giving at his back as he fell to sitting. He groped in the dark for the dropped screwdriver, his hand curling over it and flicking it on. He turned his head, shining the beam upwards.

A face, white and pale stared down at him in malevolence. A man's face, unnaturally pale, his white hair sticking up at all angles and his eyes, staring and black. The Doctor cried out in alarm, dropping the sonic screwdriver once again and throwing a hand over his eyes. He fumbled madly in the darkness, grabbing the device once again and holding it out in both defence and for the light. The figure had gone.

He heard his name called but his mind was not cooperating with him and he merely managed to let out a choked affirmative. Warm, orange light filled the corridor and he saw Rose's concerned face scanning the corridor before rushing to his crumpled form in the corner. She set the candle on the floor as she knelt beside him, her eyes reading his appearance and expression. She hugged him to her wordlessly, dissipating the tense atmosphere with innocence and warmth once more.

"What happened?" she murmured as she felt his arms tighten around her.

"I…I don't know," said the Doctor, "I don't know."


	7. Rationalisation

The fire crackled noisily in the hearth sending pencil thin tendrils of smoke dancing up into the wide chimney breast. The wisps wrapped around each other, moving in an out in a dance of their own, marking out a rhythm no one else could hear. The sight was hypnotic and to tired eyes, combined with the warmth, it was a heady mixture. Outside the stars shone clearly, not a cloud to mark them and giving rise to the drop in temperature that made the fire necessary.

Rose fussed with a bag she had dragged up from the TARDIS when they first arrived. The Doctor hadn't even noticed it until they had come back to the room and she began rifling through it after complaining of the cold in the place and lighting a small fire in the grate. She gave a little triumphant cry and pulled two plastic cups and a bottle the Doctor recognised as her now favourite brand of alcohol, a chocolate tasting liquor they had acquired on their travels. She made her way back over to the bed and sat down, unscrewing the top and attempting to pour the contents into both glasses that were balanced precariously on her knees. The Doctor reached out and steadied each one in turn, eliciting a quiet thank you from the girl next to him. When her task was complete she handed him a glass and he took a drink from it gratefully, feeling the gentle sting of the alcohol bring him a little more back to his senses.

"I know its brandy you're meant to give to someone for shock but this was all I had," said Rose, her eyes closing in appreciation as she took a long, expert drink from her cup.

The Doctor looked at her with an expression that in any other situation would have had her laughing, "Rose I'm not in shock."

"You were doing a good impression of it a moment ago."

"I was not!"

"Doctor you were shaking!"

"I was in a drafty hallway at two in the morning in my pyjamas, of course I was shaking," he said not meeting her determined gaze.

Silence came from his companion for a moment before she huffed angrily and pushed to her feet, stepping away from the bed and turning her back on him, "Don't bullshit me," she muttered, seemingly busying herself by tracing a fingernail along the elegant filigree inlay of the dresser, "I saw you, you were terrified. Tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened."

"You screamed."

"I don't scream."

"Yelled then, hollered, called out loudly. Either way I woke up to the sound of your voice and came outside to find you in a heap by the nursery door looking like…" Rose paused and shuddered, "Looking like you'd just seen a ghost."

The Doctor was glad Rose's back was to him as he knew he must have paled dramatically as the memory of the man's face returned to his mind. He knocked his drink back in one, a cough escaping him at the strength of the concoction. He placed the cup neatly on the bedside table before his fingers began worrying the threads of the pillow seam.

"I was having a nightmare," he said finally.

Rose let her head fall back against her shoulders as she groaned in frustration, "That was not a nightmare, I know your nightmares, they don't…you don't…you've never sleep walked and you've never called out like that," she paused as her hand roamed over the leather jacket he had removed and hung on the back of the dresser chair, "When you had nightmares…before when you had nightmares I'd hear you calling out but never like that and you never left your bed. Doctor tell me what happened out there and don't tell me some story just for your pride."

The Doctor's hand stilled on the pillow and then bunched into a fist in the material, "Pride?" he said, "You think I'd lie to you because of my pride. Rose I had a nightmare, there's no other explanation. I thought I saw a light lead me out of the room, I thought I heard a child crying and then I thought I saw a man's face but the subconscious can do that, even to a Time Lord. Sometimes when I do dream they're so vivid even I don't know fantasy from reality and that's all it was. We heard that story of the children and I heard children crying. That man who bothered us in the pub had white hair and staring eyes and that's what I saw but it was demonised by sleep. I had a nightmare."

"You really believe what you're saying don't you?" said Rose hearing the conviction in his words. She turned back to see him nod, his hand relaxing its grip on the pillow, "I don't believe it though, not for a second."

"And what do you believe Rose Tyler?" said the Doctor still not able to meet her gaze.

"I think you saw whatever entity haunts this house," said Rose, "And I'm not saying ghost, I know all to well now that nothing is ever what it seems. You saw something that terrified you and that doesn't happen very often so you're trying to validate it with science and fact and everything else you fall back on when you can't understand something. Doctor you saw whatever it was you saw, it was real."

"It was a nightmare," said the Doctor, "That's all it could have been."

Rose moved back over to the bed and sat down next to him. She took his cold hand in hers and laid it over her heart, his fingers sending icy bursts through her thin nightdress, "Would you swear on that?"

The Doctor looked down at his hand then back up to her eyes before snatching it away, "No," he answered, "Because I never swear on anything. Rose…I…perhaps you're right, perhaps I'm right. Look in the morning I'm going to go through this place properly and if I find anything untoward then perhaps you were right but there are no such thing as ghosts Rose and I'm not going to start believing in them now, I'm far too old."

Rose nodded, committing herself to letting him believe what he wanted, she knew too well not to argue with him when he was in a stubborn and convicted mood, "Ok," she said, getting to her feet once more and extinguishing the flames in the grate. The room darkened around them, once more lit only by the candle on the dresser. She picked up the duvet and threw it back onto the bed, the loss of the fire chilling the room once more.

"Still happy to sleep here?" she asked climbing in beside the Doctor.

"Of course I am I…"

The Doctor was cut off as Rose threw a hand over his mouth. He struggled at first but then his breath stilled as he heard what had caught her attention. He looked over to the bed room door that had been firmly shut behind them this time. Heavy, deliberate footsteps echoed on the floorboards outside. The Doctor tore Rose's hand away.

"Whose there? Mickey? Mickey if that's you mucking about it isn't funny? Mickey?"

"Doctor that can't be Mickey," said Rose, "He wouldn't come up here at night."

"Well its someone alright," said the Doctor struggling out of bed as Rose tried to hold onto him. He reached the door and the footsteps seemed to stop as he paused in front of it. His memory took him back to Scotland, pressing his cheek against the door while the werewolf stood close the other side. He almost laughed to himself as he thought he would be quite pleased to open the door and come face to face with dripping fangs, at least he knew how to fight them. His fingers played out a silent melody on the door handle as he willed himself to open it. He pulled down on the handle as the door creaked on its hinges, slowly swinging open to reveal nothing.

The corridor stretched out, long and black either side but completely devoid of life. No indication showed of anyone having been in the place and nothing sprang out of the shadowed corners as the Doctor took one tentative step outside.

"Its nothing," he said with his voice finding the confidence he had lacked all night as his theories appeared validated, "Clanging pipes or something probably. I don't know, old place like this you never know what makes all the noises. I remember this really old house I stayed in once, you couldn't…"

"Doctor?"

Rose's tentative call brought him from his ramble and he stepped back into the room to see her with her back pressed up against the headboard, her eyes wide with terror. Sweat glistened on her brow, the candle light catching every crystal droplet.

"Rose what is it?"

She raised a finger, pointing to the corner that had sparked his interest earlier. The corner where he'd seen the light in his dream. He wasn't dreaming now and he knew deep in his hearts that he hadn't been dreaming before. In the pitch black corner a red light glowed, its size increased from a pin prick to the size of a marble. It hovered, not flickering as it had done before. As they watched, paralysed by confusion the light slowly began to grow, changing colour until there was black against black, ever increasing and changing shape. The Doctor took cautious steps to the bed, his eyes never leaving the sight before him. He may not believe in ghosts but he'd read about them, read the theories, the assumptions. The three stages, light anomaly, light growth and finally, as he saw forming before his waking and disbelieving eyes, manifestation. The undefined but present silhouette of a figure became more and more apparent, black light on shadow.

He took a breath, realising he hadn't done so since stepping back in the room. He reached the bed, "Give me your hand," he said, his voice barely registering but Rose heard him and obeyed, her tiny fingers trembling in his.

"Doctor?"

"When I say run, we run ok? Down the stairs, back to the TARDIS. Do you have your key?"

Rose patted her chest lightly, the gold chain her key hung on fastened securely round her neck. Her eyes however didn't leave the sight before her. Pale grey had joined the blackness, pale grey she realised that were beginning to form hands. She felt the Doctor's grip tighten as he too witnessed the scene. She realised in horror that she had never heard his breathing come in such ragged puffs as it did now, manoeuvring his body so he was between her and the apparition.

He began to back them towards the open door, not stopping to collect up any of their possessions strewn across the floor. Rose felt the rougher wood of the corridor brush her feet but didn't dare look down the corridor behind her. She felt the Doctor's body tense up and knew his command before it left his lips.

"Run."

She was flying then, running faster than she'd ever run in her life, the Doctor on her heels. She turned onto the stairs and began her descent. Her foot slipped on the aging wood and she almost fell but the strong hand in hers pulled her upright and she continued her descent. She grabbed the door handle and tugged desperately, the lock jamming in her haste. She pulled again in vain, crying out as it refused to budge. She screamed as she was lifted off her feet but soon realised the Doctor was heading to the back door.

The moonlight illuminated the kitchen, a welcome light in the darkness they had endured. The Doctor didn't set Rose back on her feet, instead shifting her weight onto one arm and wrenching the door open with the other. Dashing out of the house into the night air they realised it was still in fact a warm night, the heat hitting them like an open oven door. Rose could imagine the gravestone beyond the tall grass and the mist that would rise up from the bog behind. The mist moved with such purpose. The scream echoed with such ferocity and she was still flying, round the side of the house, clambering over the fence, her feet connecting with the hard summer ground and not caring for the pain that flared in her ankle. She heard the impact of the Doctor landing behind her and that willed her onwards to the pure white light framed in blue from the TARDIS windows.

She was sure he'd never parked so far away but her hands soon connected with the familiar wood. A familiar hand dove beneath the collar of her nightshirt, pulling the gold chain over her head and freeing the key. The lock scratched and grumbled at the rough treatment but the door opened easily and they stumbled inside to the alien emerald glow. It was only when the door slammed shut and she heard the Doctor sink down against the wood, breathing a sigh of relief, did Rose Tyler start to cry.

XXXX

Rose sat in the captain's chair, staring at the central column as it glowed but did not move, wishing with all her heart that it would. The things she'd seen over the passed two years would be enough to terrify even the bravest of hearts but she'd endured it, carried on. She realised it was because the Doctor had always explained it, been able to give her an answer and put the world right again, he couldn't now. She let her eyes fall on him as he worked, skipping through some sort of program on the monitor but his own language swirled in an indefinable pattern before him. It was seven in the morning but neither of them had slept, merely changed and come into the one room they both now seemed to find so much comfort in.

He had asked the question she'd hoped to hear since the troubles began just over an hour ago. He had asked if she wanted to go back to London and then back out into the stars, tell Jackie some horror story to make her leave the house. Rose knew she wanted to say yes, beg him to take her away from the house, from the Earth, from everything but she couldn't because she knew herself now and she knew him. They hadn't explained it, hadn't faced it head on. In the dead of night they had done the one thing they never did, they'd run away and they had to make up for it. Explain why something that hadn't physically threatened them had had them running like terrified children from the place.

"Like what you see?" said the Doctor, a jovial tone having managed to find its way back to his voice.

"What?" said Rose, snapping out of her day dream.

"You've been staring at me for the last ten minutes," he said, still tapping away at the keyboard, "I would ask if there was something bothering you but I think I already know the answer to that."

Rose managed a small laugh, "Yeah I guess you do. What are you looking for anyway?" she said, getting to her feet and stepping beside him, glad when his arm automatically slipped round her waist the pulled her closer.

"Trying to get some readings from the house, just in case we're dealing with any alien nasties but its coming back negative everytime. The human life signs though, that's a different story," he said pointing to something that look like the light display on a mixing desk. The pattern rose to enormous heights before disappearing to nothing and then flickering erratically across the screen.

"What does it mean?" said Rose, the strange alien display meaning little to her even now.

"It means that I don't have a clue. Look."

The Doctor flipped a switch on the monitor screen and four columns like the one that had previously been going haywire appeared before her. One was lit a light blue colour and registered a much higher frequency than the three that seemed to be lit in a light orange, all emitting similar patterns. The Doctor pointed to the one lit with blue first.

"That's me," he said, "TARDIS monitoring system, tells me how many people are on board, just in case I get a stow away. I register differently to you, Jackie and Mickey, the three other columns. Measures your life signs. The pattern stays pretty regular which is why the readings from the house are so weird."

"Which one's me?" said Rose pointing to the three columns lit in orange.

The Doctor moved to stand behind her, his hands on her shoulders and lowering his face to her ear, "Watch the screen," he said, his voice sending tiny tingles down the back of her neck. She felt his fingers deftly pull the hair back from her neck and then the petal warmth of his lips on her skin. She wanted to close her eyes, lean back into him and enjoy the sensation but she kept her eyes on the screen. Nothing altered and she almost spoke up but then his clever tongue darted out and caught her at the juncture of her neck and her collarbone and the column closest to the Doctor's gave a small hiccup and then seemed to settle into a slightly higher frequency than the other two.

"Clever device," she murmured as the Doctor continued his assault on her neck, "Does it work the other way?"

"What other way?" mumbled the Doctor, the smile on his lips playing across her skin, "Stop talking."

Rose reached back a hand and gripped him gently through his trousers. The blue lit column gave an impressive jump and she felt the vibrations of his moan against her collarbone.

"Oh you mean that way," he said, sliding a hand down from her shoulder to remove her offending fingers. His lips stilled on her neck but his face remained close to the soft, white skin, "The things you do to me. We have work to do."

Rose sighed half in frustration and half in contentment, "I know, would much rather stay here though."

"Don't fancy your Mum catching us though. Its almost seven thirty, she'll be up soon demanding we get cleaning again. Do you want to tell her about last night?"

Rose shook her head as she turned to him, the dials behind her long forgotten as talk turned once more the house outside. She shuddered at the memory but she soon felt the comforting weight of his hands on her hips, "Best not to tell her, she'll either scream at us for making up stories or just scream in general. Besides, we don't even know what it is yet. If we find something that we really don't like then we'll tell her. Nothing bad seems to happen in the day anyway so we should be alright."

The Doctor pressed a kiss to her forehead, "If that's what you want. Now come on, breakfast, you need some energy and put on some old clothes. I have a wonderful feeling that the attic might hold some of the answers we're looking for, a few of the more erratic signatures are coming from that area."

"Attic?" said Rose with a laugh of dismay, "I swear to you this just gets better and better doesn't it. We get scared out of our wits in a pitch black house and you expect us to climb into the attic?"

"Sounds about right," said the Doctor, the familiar excitement at an adventure lighting his eyes, "Go on, admit it. You want to look really."

Rose tried and failed to fight the grin on her lips, "Forget breakfast," she said grabbing his tie and pulling his face down to hers, dropping her voice to a much more seductive tone, "Grab the torches and let's go."

"I like the way you think Miss Tyler," he said before pulling back, handing her a torch she thought a little too conveniently placed beneath the console, and running for the TARDIS door.

XXXX

Rose almost choked on the dust the rained down on her as the Doctor pushed open the hatch into the attic. She spluttered, blinking wildly as hundred year old dust rained down into her eyes and lungs. She heard the click of a torch and fell silent as she waited for the Doctor to speak, glad that his feet still remained on the rungs of the ladder but worried that his head and shoulders weren't in sight.

"Can you see anything?" she called when the silence became too much to bear.

"Cobwebs, dusts, old furniture, dead body, the usual stuff."

"Dead body!" cried Rose, only to be met by laughter from above her, "I hate you."

"No you don't," was the response as he climbed fully into the space above. A second later his head appeared in the frame, his hair dusty and unkempt, "Up you come then unless you want to stay down there with my ghost friend?"

Rose was already half way up the ladder, "So you were admitting he's a ghost now then?"

"Did I say ghost?" came the Doctor's voice as he disappeared once more, "I can't recollect saying ghost."

Rose poked her head up through into the attic, clicking on her own torch and shining it around. The attic was exactly as the Doctor described, dusty, old furniture stacked up, cobwebs hanging like heavy drapes. A typical unloved attic room. Rose had thought she would feel something as she entered the space but she felt relatively relaxed and calm, as did the Doctor judging by the melody she heard coming from the corner where he was merrily rummaging through an old chest of drawers.

"I need to get you singing lessons," she said, pulling herself up fully from the ladder and getting to her feet, her head almost touching the beams above her and wondering why she'd not heard any impact of the Doctor's head striking them before.

"I've got a beautiful voice," said the Doctor, more interested in the diary he had removed from the desk, scanning a few pages before tossing it over his shoulder when it proved fruitless.

"Trust me, you don't," said Rose, " Now where do you want me?"

"Draped naked over the TARDIS console," came the deliberate mumble followed by a self amused laugh, "Did I say that out loud? Why don't you make a start in there."

He pointed to a large wardrobe next to him as he turned his attention back to the dresser, seemingly making as much noise as possible as he rustled old papers and clanked together old perfume bottles. Rose shook her head in amusement, deciding better than to dignify his comment with a reply, merely opening the wardrobe and beginning to rifle through it. She sat back on her heels when the clothes revealed nothing to her and began to sort through the boxes that lay at the bottom. Most only containing receipts or inane letters from relatives to someone called Catherine. The Doctor soon moved on to other items of furniture, leaving their contents in the most case strewn across the floor but Rose remained pouring over the letters.

She came to a bundle, tied up in a pink silk bow. She pulled it loose and the letters tumbled into her lap. Several appeared singed as if they been held into a flame to burn but snatched away before they could be destroyed. She unfolded one, a pressed flower fluttering into her lap.

My darling Cate,

The days drag by between our meetings. Send the old fool away and call me to your side I beg you but beg all I might I know you shan't leave him and perhaps that makes you a better person than I. He does not make you happy Cate, not as I know I can and I cannot bear to think of you trapped in that house of his with nothing but the owls for company. I will call in a day or two, under the pretence of seeing Grace but until then, take care my love.

Ever yours,

Simon.

Rose read through many more letters of the same lines, the small affair playing out in her mind complete with period costumes. She heard of the children born, so obviously Simon's and not the offspring of Clarence who she assumed to be the husband. Two boys, twins and a little girl. When the letters were read she folded and tied them neatly once more. She went to return them to the small wooden box she had fetched them from but stopped as she saw something had caught on a small splinter and not fallen into her lap with the rest. She carefully removed it, a piece of white card with 1842 written on it but as she turned it in her hands she looked down on the picture of a family. Two young boys, perhaps five in age and a girl of about three. A young women with long dark hair, no wedding ring on her finger, and a woman of a similar look beside her who did wear one. It was the next figure that made Rose pale, it was the next figure that made her cry out her best friend's name in desperation. A shock of white hair and deep black eyes stared up at her as the Doctor hurried over. She turned the picture towards him, noticing his chocolate eyes widen in alarm and recognition.

"Well," he murmured heavily, "That's him alright."


	8. Connection

The Doctor and Rose spent hours pouring over old paperwork they gradually unearthed in the attic, interrupted only now and then by a very curious Jackie looking for any gossip or Mickey when he had been sent to offer them tea. They had gradually brought more candles upstairs and had spread a dusty old sheet on the floor in the middle of the room where they now sat, cross legged sorting the rubbish, including every receipt and list ever written by the family, from that which could provide them with information. They had unearthed birth certificates, wedding documents, many more old photos. They could put names to faces finally and a small history began to unfold.

"Here, look, Clarence James Proctor married Catherine Isabelle Howes on 18th September 1835. The ink has rubbed out on the Church bit though," said Rose, holding the flimsy document up to the light.

"Still doesn't explain where this Grace fits in," said the Doctor, "She's spoken of quite fondly in these letters from Simon even if she is only his way of reaching Catherine and this family isn't wealthy enough to have servants. This is so strange, it doesn't explain anything. The fact that there are no death certificates is strange too, this family kept every flaming scrap of paper and yet not a line on any of their deaths, or even if they died here."

"We'll find something," said Rose leaning back against a heavy old ottoman behind her, "What time is it?"

"Just gone three, don't worry, we won't be here passed sun down," said the Doctor turning back to the paperwork around him.

Rose regarded him as he worked. Having abandoned his trademark suit for light jeans and a t shirt because of the dust he looked younger than ever, especially with his glasses perched on the end of his nose. Rose was in half a mind to ask him when he'd be graduating but thought better off it. She struggled to picture his old form looking quite so student like but failed miserably, her old Doctor would have worn his leather jacket even in the humid air of the room. His hair was stuck up at wild angles where he'd worried it throughout the day.

"Come on," she said suddenly, crawling over to him and lowering so dusty old diary down from his face, "We've been cooped up in here for far too long, let's go for a walk or something."

"I thought you wanted to get this done before dark," said the Doctor, looking up at her through a lock of dust streak hair that had fallen across his face.

"We'll only be half an hour," said Rose, giving him her most pleading expression, "Please?"

The Doctor groaned and shook his head, "Whoever gave you those eyes certainly has a lot to answer for," he said, "Don't think I could refuse you anything when you pull that look on me."

"Oh no?" said Rose, sliding into his lap, her knees settling either side of his thighs, "So if I asked you to buy me a big house you would?"

"You have the TARDIS, that's yours so long as you want to keep me."

Rose felt her cheeks flush at the sincerity in her words, she'd never once thought of the TARDIS as being in anyway hers and here the Doctor was offering it to her freely as if it was the most commonplace thing in the world.

"And what if I don't want to keep you?" she said, fluttering her eyelashes expertly.

The Doctor managed to pull the most pitiful face she'd ever seen and she soon found herself giggling.

"If you won't keep me then I'd die and never regenerate again, for what is a world without Rose Tyler?" he said, his tone light but his words not lost on the girl before him. With a smile he proceeded to fall onto his back in a mock faint, setting Rose laughing all the further. A hand came up and lightly gripped the front of her t shirt, pulling her down to him. Her laughter quieted as he pressed his lips to hers but he pulled away sharply, rolling onto his side without warning and nearly sending Rose flying. She got pushed onto her knees to complain of his treatment but saw him with his ear pressed to the floorboards.

"What's the…"

"Sshh!" was the reply as he covered his other ear with his hand to block out any noise. He manoeuvred slightly to free his other hand from beneath him and beckoned her over, patting the floor beside him. Rose lay down and pressed her ear to the floor.

"If this is some Time Lord mating ritual it sucks," she hissed, feeling the need to keep her voice low.

Either the Doctor hadn't heard her or was choosing to ignore her. He used his free hand to tap out three small raps on the wood work. Rose raised her own hand to do the same but his hand stilled hers. It was then she heard it, three small raps which felt like they were right beneath her ear. The Doctor repeated the pattern and the same thing happened.

His voice in the darkness nearly made Rose jump.

"If you can hear me, tap twice on the floor boards."

There was silence in the room but then two faint taps echoed beneath them. Rose shot up from the floor, brushing at her ear as if something had just crawled inside.

"No, no, no! Doctor you stop that right now. You're just trying to scare me."

"Sshh!" was the response again before he continued, "Are you trapped here in this house, twice for yes?"

Rose didn't hear the response but the smile on the Doctor's face confirmed that he had.

"Are you human?"

He was silent for a second and then let out an audible gasp before shooting to his feet.

"What happened?" said Rose, seeing the haunted look on his face.

"It said yes," he said, "Rose blow out the candles, we're going downstairs, I want to see what room that came from."

Rose did as she was told and followed him down the ladder, only pausing to pull the shutter closed behind her. She already heard the Doctor's half hearted laughter, sarcasm dripping from every breath.

"Well isn't that just a coincidence," he said.

Rose made her final descent and stepped around the ladder to find him staring at the door opposite the nursery, the one door they hadn't been able to open. Rose heard the buzz of the sonic screwdriver as it worked over the lock, it fizzed and spat before dying out totally. The Doctor pulled it away at looked at it in shock, testing it in thin air and finding it working properly.

"Hmmm, sonic screwdriver proof," he muttered, "Someone was expecting us, that or a bunch of Victorian ghosts have developed a grasp of Time Lord gadgetry."

The Doctor nearly jumped as Rose grabbed hold of his arm, pressing herself as close to his side as possible.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone laughed."

"I didn't…"

"Doctor I mean it. Someone just laughed in my ear. It was really deep, like a man's voice. Do…do you remember that laugh you used to do? The one when you were being all clever and Jack called you an evil genius. That laugh, sounded like that. All deep and well, northern you know?"

The Doctor frowned down at her looking like he was about to tell her that it was her imagination but the words that left his mouth could not have differed more from what she expected, "Regional accents, ones round here wouldn't differ too much from my old one," he said, "Now stand back while I get this door open."

"Kick it and my mum will kill you."

"That would have been my last self's approach," said the Doctor kneeling down so he was level with the key hole. He removed a piece of paper from his pocket and slipped it under the door so there was only a little showing the side he was on.

"Hair grip," he said holding his hand out to Rose who pulled one from her hair without comment and handed it to him. He bent it out to straight and began to poke about in the lock until the thud of a something metal striking the floor was heard the other side. He pulled the piece of paper out slowly, revealing the key that sat comfortably in its centre. He picked it up and waved it triumphantly at her before placing it in the lock. It resisted at first but he persisted and the lock slid free.

"Someone locked it from the inside. Stay back," he said, "Last time I opened a door in this place it tried to knock me out and something tells me this one already doesn't like me."

Rose stepped back but only far enough to not be caught by the door if it swung back at them. The Doctor pushed down on the handle and stepped inside.

"By Rassilon I've never…"

"What?" said Rose coming to his side and peering inside.

The room was much the same as the one they had slept in the night before but it was spotlessly clean, not a speck of dust or a wisp of cobweb marred the simple but elegant room. The only thing that was out of place was the dark patch on the floor by the fire place.

"This is impossible," said Rose as the Doctor ushered her inside, propping the door open with the heavy collection of fire irons. He began to potter about the room in his ordinary messy fashion, opening drawers and rifling inside, leaving them open when he'd done. His eyes fell upon the stain on the floor and he knelt down beside it. Rose turned her face away as he licked at it like he had done with the door in Scotland, one of this regeneration's lesser qualities.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," she said, "I hope you realise I will not be kissing you until I see you with a toothbrush."

"Blood," he said looking thoroughly disgusted, "Human."

"Blood? Oh God, this place gets worse and worse."

The sonic screwdriver buzzed as the Doctor ran it over the stain, "And guess what, its showing as being just over a century and a half old and who was living here then I wonder?"

He pushed to his feet, searching along the fireplace and along the nearby walls, the screwdriver buzzing in his hand. It gave a funny beep and the Doctor hummed knowingly, "Someone was shot, gun powder traces on the wall here."

"Suicide?" said Rose, unable to take her eyes off the stain on the floor.

"Or murder," said the Doctor. As the words left his mouth icy blasts hit both him and Rose fell force. Rose shrieked and shuddered before rushing to the Doctor's side.

"I think I might have struck a chord," he said.

"Doctor can we get out of here please?" said Rose, clinging around his middle, "It feels like there's a million eyes on me."

The Doctor hugged her close, fussing her dusty hair with comforting strokes, "You want to leave without knowing?"

"Just this room, please Doctor, its horrible, its not natural," said Rose, the sob choking at her voice, "Please?"

"Alright," said the Doctor, "Come on."

They made their way to the door, the Doctor removing the fire irons and closing the door behind him. Locking it, he returned the key to his pocket. Without looking back they made their way down the stairs, the atmosphere noticeably shifting as the music from Jackie's battery powered radio echoed from the living room. The woman herself popped her head round the door as she heard them in the hallway.

"Hope you two aren't going anywhere," she said, "Mickey's gone to fetch a Chinese and some drinks and that, thought we'd have a little party seeing as we've finished the downstairs. Why don't you pop back to the TARDIS and get washed up and then come back for dinner."

"Dinner?" said Rose, "Mum its only just gone half three, why would we want dinner?"

Jackie gave her a worried look, "Have you been smoking something you shouldn't? Its nearly six."

The Doctor looked down at his watch, "She's right," he said with a slight tremor to his voice, "Its five to six."

"But we…"

"I know," said the Doctor, "It can't…I don't…I'm a Time Lord, I don't just lose time but we can't have been in that room more than ten minutes. It can't be more than half an hour since you asked me the time."

"What are you babbling about?" said Jackie, "Go and change out of those dusty clothes and come back for your dinner. I don't know everything with you two has to be a drama. Its like you want trouble to follow you…"

Jackie continued to mutter as she went back into the living room, closing the door behind her. The Doctor looked down at his young companion but her eyes were fixed to the floor.

"Rose…"

"Don't try and explain it away…"

"I wasn't I…are you frightened?"

Rose nodded wordlessly.

"Me too."

"Are you determined to find out what it is?" said Rose.

"Uh-huh."

She gave him a weak smile but adventure still lit her eyes, "Me too."

XXXX

Even the Doctor began to forget the horrors of the house that surrounded him as the cheap wine and conversation flowed freely in the elegant living room. As dusk began to settle, Jackie lit the candles in the room and everyone seemed settled in for the evening. Mickey had been surprisingly accommodating, not even flinching when Rose moved from the chair she had been in to curl into the Doctor's side on the sofa. A comfortable silence descended over the group and it was then that a look of mischief passed over Jackie's face.

"Shall we tell them Mickey?" she said, casting the younger man a knowing look.

"I want to see if they stay in this house afterwards," he said, nodding.

"What are you talking about?" said Rose, sleepily against the Doctor's shoulder.

"This house is haunted," said Jackie proudly.

Rose felt the Doctor shoulders tense beneath her cheek and she quickly laced her fingers with his, giving them a secret but comforting squeeze.

"You don't say?" said the Doctor, his voice calmer than Rose knew he was, "And what makes you say that?"

"Mickey saw a ghost in the garden," said Jackie.

Mickey noticeably preened at the comment, shooting the Doctor a triumphant glance, "And I didn't run away before you start?"

Rose sat up quickly as the Doctor leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he fixed Mickey with an intense stare, "What did you see?" he said, trying to keep his tone light.

"There was this kid, a boy. I thought he'd got lost so I went over to him and when I got there he just faded away," said Mickey, "It was kind of weird and a bit creepy, he was standing near that gravestone thing. So are you going to tell me it was my imagination or what then because I know what I saw Doctor."

The Doctor remained silent, fussing with a thread on the seam of his pinstripe trousers, deep in thought. His mood didn't seem to falter Jackie though as she went over to the table and brought back a handful of paper squares about the size of beer mats and a glass tumbler. She cleaned off the small coffee table and began setting the squares out in a circle. Rose shoved the Doctor's arm for attention as she saw Jackie lay out the alphabet and then a set of numbers. The Doctor looked down at the sight before him as Jackie placed a glass in the centre of the table with 'yes' or 'no' either side on more paper.

"That better not be what I think it is," he said, his tone dropping to one usually confined for people he was about to defeat.

Jackie looked proud of herself as she regarded the table, "We thought we'd do a Ouija Board," she said, "Find out how many ghosts we've got."

"Mum put that thing away," said Rose.

"Oh come on Rose, its just a bit of fun, it can't hurt," said Mickey, placing a finger on the glass as Jackie did the same.

The Doctor grabbed Mickey's arm and pulled it away before snatching the glass tumbler out of Jackie's grip, "Not a chance am I letting you use that thing."

Jackie gave him a look that cold have melted rock before grabbing the tumbler next to her, downing the wine inside and placing it face down in the centre of the table, a defiant look on her face. The Doctor clenched his fists, before springing to his feet and pacing the room, clearly trying not to lose his temper.

"Jackie put that damn thing away," he said, "Its not safe, not here."

"I actually think he's scared," said Mickey, "Its only a game and anyway, thought you didn't believe in ghosts."

The Doctor had by now reached the door and thumped soundly on the frame, "I have messed around with a lot of things in my time, some things I shouldn't have, but I am not, ever, EVER going to use one of those things. Believing in ghosts or not those things are dangerous, they…"

"Doctor…"

"They make people think that they're haunted, make them do stupid things…"

"Doctor…"

"People abuse them, push the glass to frighten people and god knows if they actually work properly what you could unleash…"

"DOCTOR!"

The Doctor fell silent as he heard Rose scream his name. He turned round to face her, Mickey and Jackie doing the same as they looked to her pale face. Rose looked away from the table she was staring at the fix the Doctor's eyes.

"The glass is moving," she said nodding towards the table. Jackie, Mickey and the Doctor all looked down at the coffee table. The movement was only slight, more of a vibration than a movement but it was clear all the same. Jackie began to reach a hand out.

"Don't touch it," said the Doctor, rushing back from the door and kneeling beside the table, sonic screwdriver in hand. He ran the device over the glass, shocked once more as it spluttered and died in his hand. He returned it to his pocket and reached out a cautious hand. His hand closed around the glass quickly, cradling it to his chest. Rose slipped off the sofa and knelt beside him as she saw the pain on his face. She took his hand away from his chest and opened his palm, shocked by the angry, red burn marks on his skin.

"Was a bit hot," he said, only a half smile reaching his lips. Their attention was caught once again though as Jackie's voice rang on.

"It moved again," she said. The glass had shifted towards Rose and the Doctor, hovering over the piece of paper marked 'yes'.

Rose turned her back on the table before reaching into the Doctor's pocket and pulling out the sonic screwdriver. Clicking it up several settings she ran the beam over the Doctor's hand, seeing the burns cool and heal enough for her to wrap a hanky from his pocket around it. Calmly and methodically she turned back to the table, clicking the sonic screwdriver off. She used the powerless device to gently push the glass along the table, off the side and onto the floor. The glass rolled a little way towards the door before stopping. Catching up her discarded jumper she made her way over to it and bent down to pick it up, the jumper covering her hand. The glass was cool to the touch.

The Doctor went over to her as she picked it up in her naked hand, examining it in the light of one of the candles. It appeared no different from any ordinary glass, not even a trace remained to show how it hand burned the Doctor.

"That's impossible," said the Doctor, running a finger along the glass, "That much heat energy would take, I don't know, ten minutes to cool to this temperature. Feels like its been taken out of the fridge."

"How's your hand?" said Rose, returning the sonic screwdriver to his jacket pocket and checking that the make shift bandage was secure.

"It'll do," said the Doctor, "You're getting quite the expert with the sonic screwdriver aren't you?"

"Who do you want to talk to?"

"Excuse me?" said the Doctor looking down at Rose.

"I didn't say anything," said Rose.

"Who is it you want to speak to?"

Jackie's voice rang out in the room. The sharp, scraping sound of a glass being pushed along wood accompanied her words. The Doctor and Rose looked back to see both her and Mickey, sitting either side of the table with their fingers poised on the glass. It moved in full circles around the table, just nicking the inside base of the letters and numbers Jackie had set out.

"Jackie stop that…"

The Doctor was cut off as Mickey began reading off the letters that the glass now began moving to.

"T…H…E…T…A"

The glass came to a halt but the silence that came to the room was utterly deafening.

"Theta?" said Jackie pulling a face, "Who on Earth is called that? This thing is rubbish."

The Doctor came and knelt beside the table, taking the furthest side from the door, "Theta is a Greek letter," he said, his voice growing distant as if some long forgotten memory was surfacing.

"Greek letter?" said Rose kneeling opposite him so that all four people covered each side of the table.

"Alpha, Omega, Gamma…Sigma, Greek Alphabet letters," said the Doctor, "Theta…Theta also happens to be my nick name from school."

"But how…?" said Rose, "I didn't even know that, you never told me that and this thing spelled it out."

"It wants to talk to me," said the Doctor reaching out and placing a finger on the glass.

"Don't Doctor," said Rose, "Please."

"It knows my name Rose, no one living knows my name."

Jackie reached out a finger to the glass, soon followed by Mickey,

"If you want no part in this Rose go back to the TARDIS, I won't make you do anything you don't want to but I have to know what's going on here," said the Doctor, "Mickey and Jackie, you too. I'm not forcing anyone to stay. Rose and I have seen things in this house, heard things that we can't explain and I know its bad so if anyone wants to leave then go now."

Silence descended on the room, not even the sound of their breathing seemed to cut through. Rose wrung her hands in her lap for a second, reaching out briefly then pulling back before finally setting her finger on the glass.

"If anything happens you don't like then take your hand away," said the Doctor, "Tell me and we'll all go home."

Rose nodded, relaxing her hand slightly on the glass. The Doctor took a breath before speaking once more.

"Okay you've got my attention," he said, "You already know who I am but can you spell out your name?"

The glass seemed to tremble beneath their fingertips before beginning to move in shuddery circles. It pointed out letter after letter. G…R…A…C…E.

"You're Grace?" said the Doctor, "Is that Grace who is in the letters upstairs?"

The glass slid to yes quickly.

"Hello Grace," said the Doctor softly, "Why did you live here with the family Grace?"

S…I…S…T…E…R

Rose remembered the picture she had found, one married sister, one married, "Grace, are you Catherine's sister?"

The glass once again flew to yes, juddering rather than sliding across the table. The room temperature had fallen dramatically and Jackie shivered.

"Please tell me you're pushing this?" she said to no one in particular.

"I wish I was," said the Doctor, "Grace, I've seen your picture, you were a very pretty girl."

The glass completed several large circles of the board as if responding to the comment. The Doctor seemed to smile at this, his tone brightening slightly.

"Did you like living here Grace? Is that why you stay here?"

The glass paused for a second before shooting directly over no, juddering fiercely.

"Did you die here Grace?" said the Doctor, watching as the glass passed the small distance to yes, "When did you die?"

"1843," said Rose as the glass picked out numbers from the ones laid out opposite the alphabet, "That's a year after that photo."

"Grace you were very young," said the Doctor, "How old were you when you died?"

1…9…

The Doctor looked up at his companion and saw her face blanche considerably. He reached over his free hand and lifted hers from the glass, "Rose, sit back," he said, continuing before she could protest, "Please?"

Rose did as she was told, noticing how warm she got the second her hand left the glass.

"How did you die Grace?" The glass didn't move from its spot by the number nine, "Grace was it natural? Did you get ill? Were you killed Grace, did someone take your life? Grace if you tell me I might be able to help. Did you kill yourself?"

The glassed sudden movement made everyone jump as it rushed to yes and then towards the alphabet.

R…O…P…E

"Rope?" said the Doctor, the fingers of his free hand tapping his lips, "Did you hang yourself?"

The glass was still once again and the Doctor felt a warmth creep up his arm. He shook his head, trying to dispel the room around him, "I think she's gone," he said, taking his finger back off the glass, "Everyone alright?"

Jackie and Mickey both nodded, still not moving their hands as the shock still remained to wear off. Rose managed a weak smile as she too nodded. She opened her mouth to speak as the sound of a door slamming upstairs caught their attention. Jackie shrieked in alarm, pulling her hand away from the glass. A freezing gust of wind blew through the door from the corridor, extinguishing the candles and plunging the room into blackness.

"Get out of here," came the Doctor's voice from across the table, "Rose take them back to the TARDIS."

"Doctor?" said Mickey, a tremble in his voice, "Doctor the glass is moving."

"Just take your hand off it Mickey," said the Doctor, the sonic screwdriver failing to light when he clicked it on.

"I can't," said Mickey, "Make it stop, please?"

The Doctor reached out, his keen hearing picking out the sound of the glass on the table and allowing him to place his hand on it first go. He tried to wrench it from Mickey's grip but found his arm as paralysed as the boy's. The glass moved in violent circles, knocking the pieces of paper onto the floor as it went.

"Grace if this is you then stop we mean you know harm!" cried the Doctor, still trying in vain to tear his hand away, "Rose, Jackie get out of here."

"Not without you two," said Rose, shifting to her mother's side as she whimpered.

"Rose just do as I say!"

"No! I'm not leaving you here."

The glass continued its rapid movement, circling faster and faster as the temperature descended once more. The Doctor shut his eyes, reaching out with talents rusty from ill use but he could not get beyond the heavy sense in his mind, blocking his senses to anything but the black and the noise of the glass.

"This isn't Grace," he said opening his eyes once more but still unable to see in the dark, "This is someone else. Are you the man I saw? Are you Clarence Proctor?"

The glass moved faster at the Doctor's words, scraping loudly against the wood of the table. The Doctor's confidence grew at this, his voice becoming almost teasing as he tried to tempt the energy currently moving the glass before him.

"Show yourself to me again, let me see your face. I've seen your picture too Clarence, I've seen you with your family but they weren't yours were they. You didn't want us in the bedroom upstairs, the one with the blood stain on the floor. Did you kill there Clarence? Did you murder someone in that room?"

"Doctor stop it!" cried Rose as the glass continued to move faster.

"Who did you kill Clarence? Was it Catherine, was it your wife? Or was it her lover?" said the Doctor, his ideas becoming fact as the glass responded to him, "You shot him didn't you Clarence, you shot him when you caught them together and now you're dead your guilt won't let you leave this place."

On the word dead the glass paused, trembling on the table but not restarting its manic course.

"Mickey take your finger off," instructed the Doctor, his eyes adjusting enough to see him move his hand away. He continued calling out into the darkness, compassion seeping into his voice, "You don't know you're dead do you? Clarence I'm so sorry, you died, you lived in this house over a century ago."

The glass began to circle violently again, the Doctor's hand still not having left it. The room temperature plummeted so far that even the Doctor couldn't help but shudder as it bit through his long brown coat. The darkness seemed to increase again, becoming think around him, suffocating him, blinding him. The Doctor's word grew angry once more.

"You died Clarence, you have no claim on this house or its occupants anymore. This is no longer your house!"

Silence only reigned when the glass flew from the table and smashed into a million pieces against the wall.


	9. Grace's Story

The Doctor leaned up against the counter in the TARDIS kitchen, staring at the glass upturned on the table in front of him. He knew his people could be telekinetic, his grand daughter had proved her own abilities many times in his company but he'd never managed it himself. He concentrated on the glass, willing it to move. In the cold, clinical light of the kitchen he couldn't bring himself to believe the events that had happened only an hour before. It was the darkness, his own imagination that brought on the events but even in his rational mind he was beginning to doubt he had any control over anything anymore. He'd felt the emotions, Grace's sadness, Clarence's anger. He had seen the glass move of its own accord, seen it spell out the name he hadn't revealed for so many years.

He crouched down by the table, fixing his gaze beneath the glass, tried to imagine it lifting but he just felt his eyesight blurring without his glasses and slumped his head into his arms.

"Still trying to explain it?" came a voice from the door. Rose leant on the frame, her arms folded across her chest as she watched him.

He looked up and managed a weak smile, pushing up to his feet, "How are they?"

"Mickey is in the lounge room with every light on and the television set to the loudest comedy channel he can find and Mum's in bed with a brandy," said Rose, "They'll be alright though. I think Mum will probably slap you when she's a little less dazed though."

"Perhaps I deserve it," said the Doctor, "I put you all at risk back there. If you hadn't have moved to sit by your mum that glass would have hit you when it flew off the table."

Rose crossed the room and lay a hand his arm, "I know but it didn't so stop worrying," she said, her fingers tightening slightly to emphasis her words, "I'm fine, no one got seriously hurt."

"My hand's sore," said the Doctor, doing a remarkable impression of a lost puppy, "Its going to take a few days to heal."

Rose raised his hand to her lips and kissed the back of it, mindful of his damaged palm, "Yeah but it's a fighting hand, it'll get through it. Doctor?"

"Hmmm?"

"Its ten to midnight you know, all the phenomena we've seen before tonight happened after midnight," said Rose, "We should go back in and sit in that bedroom we stayed in last night. I have a feeling about that light you saw, I think it was trying to show you something, not hurt you."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, looking suitably impressed by the woman before him, "Are you offering to go with me?"

Rose shrugged, "I want to know. Poor Grace, she seemed so kind and everything felt safe when she was in the room with us but that other spirit, Doctor do you think its possible that he hurts her even now? She disappeared so quickly and then he came, perhaps she ran away."

The Doctor pulled her into a warm hug, stroking her hair with his good hand, "It'll be dangerous, I don't know what could happen in there. We could just go, return to London and forget this place ever existed."

"But you don't do that do you? The same way we couldn't leave Satellite Five and go to Marbella in 1986, if we had you…" Rose let out a shuddery breath and clung a little tighter to him, "If we had you wouldn't have regenerated but all those people, the whole universe would have suffered. I know you still don't believe fully in ghosts but I think those people in there were real people once and some need our help and others need to be stopped. We have to go back."

The Doctor pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "I hurt you so much that day didn't I?" he said sadly, "And yet here you are, proving to me why I came back for you all that time ago? We'll grab some torches, spare batteries, everything we'll need because you're right it's what we do."

"Doctor? I do love you, you know that don't you?"

She felt the soft vibrations of a contented hum settle through her hair, "And I have no idea what I did to deserve it. I love you too," he muttered before taking her hand and smiling down at her, "Run!"

Giggling Rose let him pull her from the kitchen.

XXXX

The house was deathly silent as the Doctor pushed open the front door, cautiously taking two steps inside, the torch beam sweeping as much of the room in front of him as possible. He turned back and beckoned behind him. Rose tiptoed over the doorstep, her small form practically welding itself to the back of his coat as she clung to the fold at his waist. She pushed the door closed behind her, flinching as it slipped out of her grip and slammed. They both tensed to run but when no sound came they slowly relaxed.

"I'm getting to old for this," muttered the Doctor, heading towards the stairs. Even under the lightest of pressures the ancient wood of the stairs creaked unforgivingly with each step and they made very slow progress. The Doctor paused at the top, swinging the torch side to side, paying special attention to the door to the blood stained room. When nothing became apparent he pushed his back against the wall and brought Rose up beside him. He walked her forward towards the room they had slept in, his body between her and the threat from the nursery and bedroom behind.

Every movement of shadow as they passed by made Rose jump as she shuffled forward, her eyes trying to focus everywhere at once and leaving her dizzy. They reached the closed door of the bedroom but she couldn't bring herself to push down the handle. The Doctor's hand reaching out beside her made her jump and she heard his half hearted laugh in her ear.

"You're alright darling," he said, his hand closing on the handle and pressing down, "I've got you."

The door opened slowly and the beams of light from their torches swept the room before they stepped inside. Rose went to close the door behind them but the Doctor stilled her hand, leaving it ajar. He pulled a box of matches from his pocket and lit the candle still standing on the dresser. The warm, red flame flared up, chasing back the shadows in the room, leaving only the corners dark and menacing. He clicked off his torch and Rose did the same but her finger stayed close to the button.

"What do we do now?" she asked, biting her lip as she heard the tremble in her voice.

"Get on the bed," said the Doctor, "I want to try and recreate the other night, now I know what to expect maybe I can get a few more answers."

Rose sat on the bed but not before stooping to check beneath it, causing the Doctor to laugh before throwing his hand over his mouth as she shot him a scowl.

"Well you never know," muttered Rose as she leant back on the pillows, "Come and sit down, you're making me more nervous than I am already."

The Doctor sat down amongst the heavy satin pillows and trained his eyes on the corner he had last seen the light. Rose scooted across the distance between them, grabbing his arm and pulling it around her shoulders. The trembling had stopped but the Doctor could still feel the tension in her.

"When this is over," he whispered, "I'm taking you to the sunniest, happiest most relaxing planet I can find."

"Is the Doctor actually offering to go on holiday?" said Rose incredulously, "Next thing you'll be telling me you'll do the washing up for once."

"I don't think that much has changed."

"Oh I don't know, you've started believing ghost stories."

The Doctor only smiled in the dim light and cuddled her all the tighter.

XXXX

He hadn't meant to fall asleep. Rose had dozed off in his arms half an hour after their arrival and her deep even breathing had been almost hypnotic. He wasn't sure what had woken him, just the same prickly feeling on the back of his neck as he had had before. His arm was taking a little longer to wake up where Rose had been laying back on it. He tried to gently shake it awake but the movement stirred Rose and two sleepy brown orbs blinked up at him.

"Doctor?" she said confused but then her memory came to her and she sat up straight, "What happened?"

"Nothing yet," he said, "But I think something's about to."

As if on cue the temperature in the room gradually began to drop and Rose pulled her jumper tighter around her. The Doctor's eagle eyes spotted it first, a tiny red, intermittent glow in the corner. This time he scanned the area around the dot and when his eyes reached the ceiling her saw the small corner support bean between the two main beam, easy enough to tie a rope to.

"I think that's where she hung herself," he said, knowing Rose wouldn't hear him as her eyes remained trained on the massing red dot.

A puff of wind circled them before snuffing out the candle, rendering them once more in the dark as no moonlight shone through the window from the cloud shrouded night. Rose's reached for her torch but the Doctor stilled her hand, entwining their fingers tightly to convince her she was safe. As before the red light soon dissipated into a black silhouette on against the shadow, places fading to grey to reveal hands. Rose felt the urge to run once more but she resisted, watching instead as the apparition before them became much more defined. The face was the last to appear and both the Doctor and Rose recoiled in horror as it did. Thin and haggard, nothing like the picture they had seen, her hair hung in limp black mats either side of her death pale face, her lips tinged with blue but it was her neck, exposed at the top of her Victorian dress, that held the true horror. Her throat was marred with a thick red rope burn, the tendons in her neck in places completely revealed where the skin was warn away.

Rose's hand came up to her own throat but she was unable to tear her eyes away from the girl in front of her. The Doctor, with a bravery he didn't even know he had, pushed up from the bed and took a few tentative steps towards the figure. She too stepped forward, almost as frightened of him as he was of her. The Doctor began to circle her slowly, regarding her still with a scientist's eyes. As he came to face her again he held his hand up to her, palm facing upwards. Rose thought she saw the beginnings of a sad smile on the girl's features before she raised her hand as if to lay it in the Doctor's. Her fingers lowered to his but passed straight through, dispersing to mist before reforming beneath his hand.

The Doctor shuddered as both a cold and a sadness ran through his veins. He struggled to find a voice and the one he did came out high and strained.

"Grace?"

The girl's lips remained in a hard, thin line but she nodded very slowly. The Doctor looked like he wanted to cry, from the sadness she had passed to him, from the fact that this was happening. Rose cautiously came to his side and Grace's hollow eyes turned on her, as grey as the shadows that made up her form. She held a finger to her lips before turning towards the door, beckoning Rose and the Doctor to follow her. The Doctor took Rose's hand, looking down at her with concerned but bright eyes before stepping forward. Grace led them from the room and into the dark corridor, her own footsteps audible on the floorboards. She paused at the stairs and looked back at them, her eyes displaying a terror before she seemed to edge closer to the wall, away from the door to the blood stained room. As she reached the nursery door she stopped and turned back to them. The soft muffled crying echoed from the room again but as the Doctor reached out a hand to the door handle, Grace held her arm up to stop him. She shook her head, tears visible in her eyes, so much so that Rose wanted to reach a hand up and wipe them away.

"The children?" said the Doctor softly.

Grace nodded.

"Clarence did something to the children?"

Grace nodded again, slowly and deliberately as if trying to convey the message through her eyes. She offered him the chance to open the door but when he tried the handle it wouldn't budge. He gave her a puzzled look but she gave no further movement. Rose could almost hear his brain working over the silent girl before them, the girl no older than Rose but looking aged beyond her years. The Doctor lay his palms flat on the door, closing his eyes, seemingly tracing unseen patterns on the wood work.

"He locked them inside," he said, his voice making him sound closer to Grace's kind than anything living, "He locked the children inside the nursery and…no!"

He snatched his hand away from the door, his eyes snapping open. He turned towards Rose, almost searching her face for some sort of comfort but finding none before he turned back to Grace. The young girl looked up at him, a single tear escaping her eye and coursing down her cheek.

"He starved them to death," said the Doctor, "He…"

Both Rose and the Doctor jumped as they heard a key turn in the lock of the door opposite. The Doctor patted his pocket, feeling the key he'd removed still resting beside his hip. They both shuddered as the figure of Grace passed through them at a run, making her way back to the sanctuary of the bedroom they had first been in.

"Grace wait!" cried the Doctor before he and Rose swiftly followed her retreating form. They heard a door slam behind them, heavy boots on the landing. Neither even thought of the stairs as they passed them, following Grace and seeing her duck into the room. A desperate female scream rang out around them and Rose threw her hands over her ears but pulled them back to grab onto the Doctor's coat once more.

They rounded the corner but the scene that greeted them was beyond the macabre. Grace hung from a rope from the corner beam, her grey eyes wide and staring but her face lifeless. The Doctor quickly pulled Rose to his chest, concealing her eyes from the sight before closing his own. He heard the rumble of laughter in his ear and forced his eyes open. Clarence's face flashed before his eyes for a second and then disappeared. The house fell deathly silent save for their own ragged breathing as they stood clinging to each other for dear life. Rose's breath soon became shuddering sobs as she grabbed handfuls of his jacket, pressing her face as close into his shirt as she could.

The Doctor risked a look towards the corner and there was nothing there but shadow and moonlight, the clouds outside slowly parting to reveal the silvery night.

"Rose?" he said, his voice choked but not quivering as he had feared, "Rose its over, its over. Come on, let's get out of here." Flicking on his torch he led them back into the corridor, having to guide his companion as her face remained buried in his shoulder. They made slow progress down the dark stairs but this time to door opened easily and they stepped into the open air. Only then did Rose raise her head, looking up at the stars.

"That poor girl," said Rose, "Doctor she looked…she…those children…"

"Sshh, its alright," said the Doctor, tightening his arms around her, "We're going to help them."

"How?" sniffed Rose, believing for the first time ever that saving them would be beyond even the Doctor.

"I'm going to find their bodies," he said softly, "I think we'll find that none of Clarence Proctor's family were laid to rest properly when they died. No one knew what happened and it needs to be known."

"I didn't think you'd believe that," said Rose as they began the walk back to the TARDIS, "A proper burial and all that, you're not Christian…Human even."

"But they were and what they believe should have been done and what wasn't done is what keeps them here," said the Doctor, "I never thought I'd believe it, never though it possible but whether we call them ghosts or not, those souls need our help."

The TARDIS key scratched in the door. The Doctor pushed it open, stepping back to let Rose inside first. His attention turned to a familiar star and he ran a hand over his eyes.

"I wonder if…"

"What?" said Rose.

"Nothing," said the Doctor, "Come on, you need some sleep."

XXXX

The Doctor nursed his cheek with his hand, grumbling as he stomped down the road towards the village. His mood wasn't improved by the summer monsoon that seemed to have Cumbria in its grip. When he'd gone to the kitchen that morning the first thing to greet him was not a cup of coffee, or a gentle smile from Rose but a smack round the face from Jackie Tyler and a lecture that he was sure stretch on for at least half an hour. Rose had finally rescued him, answering her mother's protests that they had to go into town to do some more research on the house. It hadn't helped that when they stepped outside expecting the warm, sunny whether they'd had since they arrived, they were soon drench by the rain pelting down onto them.

Rose scurried along beside the Doctor, trying her best to keep him dry with the umbrella she had managed to find in the TARDIS wardrobe, a big, black golf affair that made her wonder if the Doctor had ever played. She'd seen the cricket bat propped up in the corner with a sandy coloured jacket beside it but she'd never seen him use it. She could hear him muttering about mothers and domestics and how no one appreciated all the effort he was putting into chasing spooks around a dodgy old house for a week. She felt a smile tug her lips as he pressed on in his mutterings, this regeneration was becoming famous for his rambling grumbles.

The village came into sight but the Doctor veered off the normal road and up a small dirt track that led to the small, stone church. The grave yard surrounding it was unkempt and overgrown but that didn't deter him from pushing open the gate and wandering inside.

"What are we doing here?" said Rose, holding the umbrella over him again but it proving not much use as he was already soaked.

"Checking for gravestones," said the Doctor, "If we can't find any for the family then we'll know the bodies have been put somewhere else. Look around for any bearing the name of Proctor or Howes."

"Can't we wait until the rain dies down a bit? You're utterly soaked and you'll catch cold if you stay out much longer."

The Doctor smiled at Rose's concern, "I'm much tougher than you humans you know, a little rain isn't going to hurt. Now come on, have a look around and when we don't find anything, which I'm sure we won't, we're going to the library."

"Library?"

"Its time Mary Jones told me what really happened to her."

XXXX

The graveyard hunt had proved as fruitless as the Doctor predicted and they soon found themselves climbing the steps to the little library in the village. Rose left the dripping brolly in the lobby before collaring the Doctor and wrestling his soaked trench coat off his back, hanging it over the side of a leaflet display. She saw the lady behind the desk working away frantically, glancing up now and then to shoot them a desperate glance, clearly the Doctor had left her more than a little shaken during his last visit.

As they pushed through the glass interior doors she jumped to her feet, gathering up several books and busying herself with filling the shelves. The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets and scuffed his shoes against the white marble floor. He was whistling a tune Rose didn't recognise but she could already see a hundred questions forming on his lips. He meandered over to the book shelf that Mary was currently standing at and leaned against it.

"What happened that night at the house Mary?" he said.

The woman glared up at him in alarm before moving over to another shelf, pulling the books out onto the floor before putting them back in exactly the same order.

"You're not a member," she muttered, "You or your friend so please leave."

"You said last time that I could come in to do some research," said the Doctor not leaving his leaning post, "I'm back to do that research."

"I meant you could use the books, not me," said Mary, her fingers seeking the gold chain around her neck and fiddling with it.

"Why are you so afraid to tell me what happened?" said the Doctor, "What did you see in that house Mary? What happened to those two Johnson boys?"

Mary paled dramatically, her hands stilling on the books. She closed her eyes, taking deep shuddering breaths as if reliving an experience she had long since forgotten, "I told you to leave that place but you didn't listen," she said, tears squeezing out from the corners of her eyes, "I told them to, I told them that night that it wasn't safe but they went in and Patrick made me follow them. We…we…"

The Doctor was by her side in an instant, a warm hand light on her shoulder, "What happened?" he said more gently than before, "I'll believe you Mary, whatever you tell me, I've seen things too, things in the dark that shouldn't be there."

Mary swallowed heavily before looking at him through her tears, "We went to the house because all the villagers said the woman who lived there was a witch. There were seven of us, Patrick and me, Ted and Perry Johnson, Eliza, Martin and Christopher. We were only kids, I was on seven. When we realised that the old woman wasn't home Pat and Chris decided to break in. I told them not to, it wasn't right. It was really creepy inside, like someone was always watching you."

"Yeah, we got that feeling too," said Rose coming to the side of the bookcase.

"We started hearing these noises upstairs, crying, doors slamming. I thought one of the boys from school had come in earlier and was trying to wind us up. Martin said we should draw straws, see who should go up there and see what was happening and to see if the old woman did keep monsters up there. Perry Johnson drew the short straw," said Mary fiddling with her necklace once again, "Ted wouldn't let Perry go on his own so they went up the stairs together, I remember them laughing, thinking it was such a great game but I knew something dreadful would happen. We heard a door slam and we heard them scream and…"

Mary's entire body shook with sobs. Rose pushed the Doctor aside to wrap her arms around the quivering woman.

"Its ok," she said softly, "Take your time."

"We went up the stairs, all of us," said Mary, clutching Rose's hand until her knuckles went white, "It was so quiet, not a sound. We turned at the top, expecting to see them there, laughing at us but it wasn't them we saw. Oh it was awful, I've never seen such a sight in my life, those eyes, those hands. The boys were nowhere in sight but there was a man, his eyes were like black fire and his hands…his hands were stained with blood. I saw him with my waking eyes I swear. He had this shocking white hair and was so deathly pale."

"Clarence," said the Doctor, "We've seen him too but not like that."

"We thought he was a robber, or a murderer hiding in the house but then he just walked through us," said Mary, shuddering at the memory. Rose did also as she remembered the apparition of Grace passing them the night before, "This terrible woman's scream rang out and it was like the house itself came alive. The doors all opened and slammed on their own, the curtains moved, it went to cold. We ran, we ran so fast until we were so far away."

"What happened to the boys Mary?" said the Doctor.

"I don't know, we never saw them. They just disappeared."


	10. Going It Alone

Rose knew the Doctor was best avoided when he was trying to fathom something out, not just for the fact that any interruptions resulted in a very snappy response but also the constant mumblings in his own language as well as English often terrified those who didn't know him well. That was why she made sure Jackie and Mickey had ample entertainment on the TARDIS whilst the Doctor worked in the library, Rose by his side, silent save for when he wanted to bounce ideas off her. She contented herself by pouring over old books, some she imagined many thousands of years older than she was. The Doctor had many scattered around him where he sat cross legged on the rug by the fire, most of them, Rose had noticed with interest, on the Occult; a subject she would have thought not a prominent feature of a non-believer's library.

Their conversation with Mary had planted several new theories into the Doctor's head and he was poring over whatever he could to try and figure out the history of the house. He chewed the end of a pen thoughtfully before scribbling once more on the pad in front of him. Rose had managed to peer over his shoulder at one point but pulled a face in confusion as all she saw was the odd circular language she witnessed every day on the TARDIS monitor. She was amazed how easily the Doctor scribbled the intricate little circles on the paper, his language running right to left she noticed rather than her western left to right.

At present Rose was across the room from him, curled on the large, black leather sofa they so often curled up on after a hard day being chased by aliens. Of all the rooms in the TARDIS this seemed to be the one they favoured above all others. Rose had stumbled upon the library on her second night on board the time ship, finding the Doctor sprawled out on the sofa, feet propped up on a small coffee table with his head stuck in a book. She'd settled silently next to him and before she even enquired as to what he was reading he had flipped back to the beginning of the book and begun reading to her in his wonderful accent. It had become a ritual and now the room brought a comforting connection to them. Rose loved the sofa, it gave her a view of the entire room, allowing her the perfect opportunity to watch the Doctor unhindered as he flipped through book after book, muttering away to himself. She flinched in surprise as she saw him manage to bend right over his crossed legs to reach a book just out of easy grasp. She often forgot how much more athletic he was now, often throwing himself onto rope swings or climbing anything without protest. Walk or run seemed to be the only two settings for her old Doctor but this one could probably rival several gymnastics teams.

She giggled at the thought and received a questioning look from the man on the floor. She flashed him a sweet smile before turning back to the book in her hands, apparently she was reading about the history of some far off planet, currently focusing on some two thousand year long war but she hadn't turned a page for at least an hour. She closed the book and got to her feet, lovingly placing it back in its place on the shelf before wandering over to the Doctor. She knelt behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Getting anywhere?" she said, supporting his weight as he leaned back slightly against her.

"Maybe, maybe not, its hard to tell," he said, his hand wavering over the notes he'd made, "I've got a rough idea though."

"Want to run it by me?" said Rose pulling her hands back to his shoulders and beginning to massage them through his thin shirt. She heard him groan in thanks as she worked out several tight knots.

"You wouldn't mind?" he said, "Its pretty much all guess work."

"You always do better when you've talked through it out loud."

"Well, we know that Grace hung herself and that Clarence starved the children to death. Then there's the blood stain in the master bedroom. Imagine the scene, he's away, never mind where, Catherine brings Simon into the house. Now I think Grace would have been aware of this affair but Simon clearly visits on the pretence of seeing her so perhaps he plays the suitor to get to Catherine. Is this making sense?"

"Just about," said Rose, "You think Grace was in love with Simon too?"

"Uh-huh, just seemed to, I don't know, I got some strange feelings when she touched my hand last night. Real heart break but it was a romantic heartbreak, not for her family," said the Doctor, "This affair between Catherine and Simon must have been going on for years, they'd be quite practised so here's my theory. Clarence goes away as always but he has suspicions about the affair, the look of the children, the fact that Simon has visited for so many years, even before Grace came of age but has never made her an offer of marriage, they all make him come back. Grace has helped her sister continue her affair despite the pain it causes her, the gentle soul you so often get stuck in the middle of these things. Anyway, angry husband comes home and catches Catherine in bed with Simon. Simon gets out of bed, perhaps to confront Clarence and bang!"

Rose jumped as he shouted the final word, only managing a strained giggle as she recovered herself, "I think I'm getting it. Clarence shoots Simon, decides to starve the children to death and then Grace, broken hearted by his death, hangs herself."

"Bingo," said the Doctor but then his tone changed to serious once again, "That still doesn't explain what happened to Catherine or Clarence though. There's something missing here and its something in that master bedroom and I think that will give us an answer about the Johnson boys too."

"You're plotting something," said Rose, her hands stilling on his shoulders.

"I'm going to spend tonight in that room."

Rose cuffed him round the head, "You bloody well are not."

The Doctor turned to face her, his hand fussing his hair where she'd hit him, "I have to," he said, "That's where all the answers are."

"That's also where that Clarence creature waits and you're just going to walk right up to him."

"That door was locked from the inside and no one had been in the room for ages, not even your Nan's great aunt. It was locked but there were no bodies in the room but likewise there were no other exits. Something in that room is holding all the answers and I need to find out what it is."

"It'll be dangerous," said Rose, pushing his hair back and kissing his forehead.

"That's why I'm going on my own," said the Doctor causing Rose to pull back in alarm.

"No you…"

"Yes I am," said the Doctor, cutting her off, "Rose, I promised your mother that I'd protect you and I would never, ever knowingly put you in harm's way."

Rose's chin fell to her chest and she sniffed back the tears that wanted to fall, "What if he hurts you? I don't want you to change again."

"Hey, tough as old boots me," he said tilting her face up to meet his, "I'll be ok. Tell you what I'll do, you remember those life sign monitors I showed you? I've got a couple of gadgets, you can monitor me while I'm in there and I'll take a phone with me, keep you updated as to what's happening."

"Great so I get to see your vitals snuffed out and get an auditory rendition of your next regeneration," said Rose turning her face away, "What am I meant to do with them? If you can't defeat whatever is in that house then I'm not going to be much use to you standing in the TARDIS with a mobile phone."

"Yes you will," said the Doctor taking her hand and pulling her to her feet, "Come with me."

Rose let him lead her to the console room, but her hand was limp in his. As they reached the emerald lit room the Doctor took her right up to the console. He flipped a couple of switches and the TARDIS came to life, the central column brightening but not moving. He took a small disk and held it up to her.

"This is a tracking device, its programmed to the TARDIS," he said before slipping it into his breast pocket, "The TARDIS is ready to move so I'll leave her like this when I go. Don't touch anything on the console otherwise god knows where you'll end up. Now then, see this little green button here."

Rose nodded as he pointed to the button on the console, just beneath the central column.

"That button scans for this disk and when it finds it the TARDIS transports right to the place where it is. If I lose contact with you without warning press this button and the TARDIS will come for me."

A smile lit up Rose's face at his words, "I…" she said incredulously, pointing to herself with pride, "Little Rose Tyler, get to fly the TARDIS."

The Doctor nodded, "I think you can handle it," he said, his hand coming up to toy with her hair, "When I come back after tonight I'm going to teach you properly."

"Do you really mean that?" said Rose, brightening further, "Doctor…she…the TARDIS…she's yours and I…wow!"

"Very rare that I have you tongue tied," said the Doctor before pressing a kiss to the end of her nose, "I need to get ready to go, it'll be dark soon."

Rose raised her face up to kiss him before letting him slip from her arms and return to the centre of the TARDIS. When she heard his fading footfalls she looked up at the central column, almost able to see the life behind the machine.

"We need to look after him old girl," she said before turning to following, smiling happily as she heard the console give a soft beep behind her.

XXXX

"Tracker?"

"Yes."

"Phone?"

"Yes."

"Sonic Screwdriver?"

"Like its proved useful so far."

"Doctor!"

"Yes, sonic screwdriver."

"Torch?"

"Yes!" cried the Doctor, "Rose you're worse than my mother, I've got everything I need, trust me."

Rose stood between him and the TARDIS exit, rattling off item after item before she would let him out of the safety of the ship. She reached up and took his face in her hands, pressing a kiss to his lips, "I just want to make sure you're ok."

"You should be asking him if he's got any nappies with him because he's going to be bricking it in there," came Mickey's voice from the captain's chair.

"Says the boy I had to carry out of there last night because he was too scared to walk through the lounge door," the Doctor threw back over his shoulder.

"Hey, you did not carry me."

"Looked like that from where I was," said Jackie.

"Me too," said Rose, shooting Mickey a smile to let him know it was only play. The Boy blushed and grew suddenly interested in the supports struts.

Rose turned her attention back to the man in front of her, buttoning up his suit jacket and then his long trench coat. The Doctor still her hands and pulled her into a hug.

"I can dress myself you know."

"I know," said Rose, "Be careful in there."

"I will. Now come on, kiss me good luck," he said pulling back slightly.

"Isn't it kiss me good bye?"

"This isn't good bye," said the Doctor, his eyes and voice becoming serious.

"You don't need luck either," said Rose, "You've got all the luck in the world, so this is for love."

She pressed her lips to his as his arms held her tighter to him. She ruffled his hair gently, a familiar gesture since day one of his regeneration. He pulled back and ran his hands down her leather clad arms, still slightly amused at the over sized jacket on her small frame but the thought made him smile.

"See you in the morning," he said.

"You better," said Rose as she opened the TARDIS door and he moved passed her into the twilight lit world outside, the rain soaking him almost instant. He waved at her when he'd gone a few metres and she managed a half hearted one back before closing the door and rushing over to the console to watch the readings.

XXXX

The Doctor had every sense available on full alert as he entered the house, a little nervous that due to the rain the TARDIS was obscured from view from the front door. He pulled out his torch, patting his pocket and glad as the sound of several sets of spare batteries rang back at him. He closed the front door behind him and proceeded the climb the stairs, pulling his phone out of his pocket and letting the speed dial take him to the TARDIS phone, it answered almost immediately.

"Doctor?"

"Its me, I'm inside, just going up the stairs. Everything ok there?"

"Worrying about you."

"I'm fine," he said as he reached the landing, he shone the torch from side to side, nothing untoward catching his attention, "Nothing so far."

He turned towards the nursery and master bedroom, feeling his hearts fluttering all the faster in his chest as he neared the doors.

"Calm down," said Rose, "Your readings are sky high even for you."

"You come here and you calm down," he snapped back, "Sorry Rose."

"'S ok," came a small voice on the end of the line.

The Doctor reached the door to the master bedroom and took out the key. He slipped it into the lock and slid the bolt free. His hand didn't pause on the handle, instead throwing the door open and stepping defiantly inside.

"Holy mother of…Rose you should see this?" he said stepping into the immaculately clean room once more, "Remember when we were in here I was turning out the cupboards?"

"Yeah."

"Well, someone's been tidying up after me," he said, securing the phone between his shoulder and his ear and running a hand over the perfect dressing table. He made his way to a chair in the corner and sat down, his torch still sweeping the room. He considered lighting the candles but the boisterous side of his personality was being stubborn and he remained with just the faint torch light.

"Nothing's happening yet," he said, "I'll leave the phone on but don't speak unless I talk to you ok. I might sound a little distant when I do, I'm putting it down on the table next to me."

"Ok," said Rose, "Be careful."

The Doctor felt the hours pass by as it crawled passed midnight. He occasionally picked up the phone to speak to Rose but most of the time silence reigned. The room felt like any other room in the world, no untoward noises, no lights. The Doctor was almost beginning to think that he had imagined the entire week or that Rose and Jackie had rigged up some elaborate trick to have him spend a night alone. He would almost have convinced himself if he didn't have the memory of how often he'd felt Rose's heart fluttering against his chest when they'd run from the place.

He tapped out an old melody on his knee, humming under his breath as he scanned the room once again with the torch, considering calling the whole thing a night and going back to the TARDIS. He didn't believe his eyes at first, moving the torch back and forth to make sure that it wasn't a trick of the light. The blankets covering the bed dipped at the edge nearest him, the imprint looking as if it should have someone sitting there. He got to his feet, covering the short distance and running his hand along the dip, shuddering as he felt the drop in temperature there. He hurried back to his chair and picked up the phone.

"Rose?" he whispered, "Something's happening."

He started as he heard the latch on the door click and creak slowly open. He heard the fall of boots on the floorboards but couldn't see anything.

"Oh hell, the door just opened on its own," he said, his eyes straining to find a figure attached to the footsteps. He heard the strange sound of voices again, so distant, like white noise from a radio. He couldn't make out the words but he strained his hearing all the same. The room felt cooler but his skin still didn't prickle with fear as he sat in the darkness. He noticed the torch light die in his hand but didn't consider reaching for the spare batteries, he knew they would be of little use.

He heard the door slam downstairs and almost shouted in the phone to Mickey and Jackie that he would kill them both if they'd let Rose come to the house but before he could speak an unwarranted drama began to play before his eyes. By the window in a seat that had been empty only seconds ago a young couple sat. He could make out their features perfectly, they almost looked flesh. He recognised Catherine and needed not guess who the man beside her was. The man sprang to his feet, spreading his arms as if the shield the woman next to him. The door flew against the wall and the sound of a gun shot rang out in the room. Catherine screamed, the sound piercing the Doctor's ears as he watched the body of Simon fall the floor, his head meeting with the already present blood stain. The body faded as if it hadn't been there. The Doctor pushed his back into the chair as he heard heavier footfalls come from the door but the apparitions remained unaware of his presence. He saw the form of Clarence materialise, bending down to place his hand against the blood stain, his fingers raising, dripping. Catherine threw up her arms to defend herself but he bore down on her, wrenching her arms to her sides before his hands closed around her throat.

Despite the horrors the Doctor had seen in his lifetime he still closed his eyes against the sight, feeling the tears welling up behind them for the fact that he could do nothing to save the young woman. He heard the slump of a body and opened his eyes. The room was empty once more. He swallowed the taste in the back of his mouth but felt the fever of shock growing on his forehead. He steadied his breathing as best he could, realising that Rose was calling his name down the phone still pressed to his ear.

"Doctor answer me? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said, "I'm here…something happened."

He was sure Rose could hear the disbelief in his voice, even he couldn't understand the scene that had played out before him.

"They…Catherine, he strangled her. Shot Simon, I was right and then…nothing, he's just disappeared and they…the bodies just faded away. I've never seen anything like…"

"Doctor?"

The Doctor lay the phone back on the table as he saw a light begin to form where he'd last seen Catherine standing. He saw the same development that had surrounded Grace's apparition but this time no face appeared, where Catherine's head should be there was no more than a rapid blur as if she were moving her head side to side in fast forward. He could hear no sound but his hands flew to his ears, the rush hitting him like the pressure of an airplane take off. Her hands groped wildly, trying to fight off some unseen enemy. Instinct taking over the Doctor went to her side and reached out to hold her still. His hands fell through the icy cloud and Catherine faded from sight, the only sound in the room being the wide thumping of his hearts.

He brought his hands to his face, wiping away tears and sweat. He felt his hands slip over something slick and he pulled his hands away, looking down at his palms. Even in the dim light he could make out the blood on his fingers. He turned to the mirror above the fireplace but nothing was on his face at all. He looked back down at his hands once more, they were clean save for the slight glimmer of perspiration. He looked back up to his reflection, considering giving himself a severe talking to about his imagination. He paled.

The face behind his shoulder smiled, a row of yellow teeth looking menacing in the darkness. The Doctor whirled round to face his assailant but nothing stood behind him. His breathing came in ragged puffs as he turned his face slowly back to the mirror. The face was still there, the same wicked smile on his features, black eyes boring into the Doctor's own.

"Neat trick," muttered the Doctor, falling back on sarcasm as rational thought failed him, "Clarence Proctor I presume."

The face behind him just smiled all the wider, holding up a hand beside his face to show blood stained hands. The Doctor watched as the hand crossed to his neck, grasping his neck. He didn't feel the fingers but then the pressure started and he felt his throat constricting. His hands came up groping wildly at the hand but gripping nothing, only stopping when he felt his own blood spilling from the cuts his finger nails had caused on his skin. The pressure stopped as the hand was removed and Clarence gave a silent laugh.

The Doctor steadied his breathing, all the harder after the immense pressure on his throat. His voice came out hoarse.

"What do you want from me? Why don't you leave this place?"

The figure behind him was silent, merely staring at him with those black, hate filled eyes.

"I know what you did," said the Doctor, "I know it all now and I will stop you tormenting those poor souls now they are dead."

A fire seemed to leap up in Clarence's eyes at the Doctor's words and the Doctor felt a hand tighten around his left wrist. He tried to wrench it away but it was held fast, even in death Clarence's bulk outweighed the Doctor by a mile. The Doctor tried to step away, planning to use his entire body weight to free himself but his feet would not move. He wriggled as best he could but he found himself routed to the spot, feeling the familiar blackness fall over his mind. He stared incredulously at his own reflection, his mind was his most powerful asset and yet there he stood, paralysed, almost possessed.

He heard the crack of bone a few seconds before the pain registered in his mind. He could feel bones snapping and tendons popping in his wrist as Clarence wrenched it up behind his back. He bit back a cry of agony, determination to beat this creature keeping him from alerting Rose to his suffering. He didn't even know if he could cry out. He was perfectly aware of himself but no limb, no muscle would move at his command. He closed his eyes tight, fighting against the blackness in his mind, groping wildly for the light he knew to be his own presence. He thought he had achieved his aim as he felt the shift of air against his body as he moved but as he collided soundly with the wall he realised he had been thrown rather than stepping.

He opened his eyes, Clarence bearing down on him. He tried to push to his feet, anything to stop the onslaught he knew would befall him otherwise. The fate of the Johnson boys horrifically clear now, what they had witnessed, the price anyone who saw Clarence's deed paid. The pain flaring in his left wrist was augmented all the more by the throbbing in his head. He saw the glimmer of his own blood on the mantle of the fire place, felt the warm slow trickle down his cheek. He felt the hand close on his collar, felt his feet against the wood of the floor once more, felt the solid end panel of the bed as he was thrown against it. The force flipped him onto the mattress, his face only inches away from the dresser and the phone that was meant to have been his lifeline.

He could hear Rose's breathing on the end, waiting for him to speak as she had done all evening. He wondered if she could even hear the impact of his body as he was thrown or the sound of bone cracking as he felt stabs of pain from his ribs. He wanted to call out for her, she could bring the TARDIS to him, he could recover, come the next night and defeat this creature now he knew what to expect but her name faltered on his lips. He closed his eyes, willing away the blackness once more but the pain in his broken body dulled his senses and he was overcome. He felt the pressure on his broken wrist, glad he couldn't cry out as the pain shot up his arm like wild fire. He was pulled to his feet and his eyes focused on his fate. The window stood broad before him, two storeys up and a concrete patio below. He had promised Rose he wouldn't regenerate, he may well get his wish, if he survived the glass the impact with the floor below would be fatal and without power over his own mind he didn't know whether even he could survive it.

The glass shattered around him, he felt the razor edges rip through clothes and flesh indiscriminately but the pain was not his focus. He felt the blackness lift from him, felt himself in control once again. He only needed a second. Ignoring the pain in every part of him he flipped himself over and grabbed with his good hand, nearly crying in surprise as he caught hold of the thick ivy against the wall. His elation dimmed as the plant began to give but he quickly brought up his other hand, gritting his teeth against the pain as he carefully climbed down. His feet hitting the concrete below soon made him aware of the torn ligaments in his leg and he clutched it painfully. He slid down the nearest wall, burying his face in his arms as he mentally catalogued the agonies afflicting him.

He raised his head, intent on limping as best he could back to the TARDIS, phoneless he couldn't even call for help. He pushed up onto his feet, his broken wrist held fast against his chest and his damaged leg wobbling dangerously. He saw it then, the mist rising up from the bog in the distance and it all made sense. He wanted to cry with both joy and despair. He knew where Clarence had taken them, their very souls had called out to him his first night here but he hadn't listened. He was listening now as his feet began to move slowly towards the gravestone with no name, ignoring the terrifying scream that had had him trembling before. His limping gait hindered his progression through the tall grass and he almost amused himself when Mickey's lack of gardening skills came to his mind.

He was only ten paces away from the gravestone when he realised his mistake. He felt the shudders run through his body as the familiar cold descended on him. The blackness came then, he fought it as best he could but in his weakened state nothing could withstand the force of the entity behind him. They could have run away, left this place but he had had to find out, had to get involved with the macabre spectacular that had played out in the house behind him for a hundred years without his interference. Now he was meeting the same fate as the foolish boys who had stumbled on Clarence, now he would leave Rose to mourn when his promises went unfulfilled, now he would leave Grace to suffer many more centuries of torment at the hands of the man who should have been her protector.

His feet moved of their own accord and try as he might he could not alter the course. He felt the constitution of the ground alter as he stepped beyond the gravestone and into the reeds. He felt the slimy, penetrating sludge of the bog claim his feet, his ankles, his legs, his waist. He was turned, facing the shadowy billowing apparition of Clarence as he stared down at him, the rain not showing on his clothes but blurring the Doctor's eyesight as he tried to struggle free. The sludge claimed his arms, his chest. He thought of the tiny tracking device in his pocket, wondered of its point when he could not alert Rose to his need. He strained to keep his head up, his lungs gasping for air as with each breath more of the choking black muck found it way into his mouth. He closed his eyes, pushing with all he had against the blackness in his mind but felt himself slip beneath the surface, slowly suffocating in the black mud as it filled his lungs. He felt another blackness join the possession in his mind, the blackness his last form had prayed for before the light had walked into his life, his Rose. He cried out her name in his mind as he felt consciousness slip.

XXXX

Rose didn't know what it was that pulled her attention to the monitor, she had been so concerned with the phone she hadn't even looked at the screen. For twenty minutes nothing but silence had echoed back from the room the Doctor had been in. She grown used to it throughout the night and thought nothing of it. He had said that the apparitions had disappeared, perhaps that would be an end to it. She half listened for the TARDIS door opening, waiting for him to come home with no more answers than he went with but then something had nudged at her mind. The leather jacket, his leather jacket, had suddenly become too hot around her, the hairs on the back of her neck had stood up they way they had always done when he had been near her, creating that delicious electricity she was now discovering with his new form but something in the feeling wasn't right. The alarms went off in her mind and she flew to the monitor.

Where the blue light had been happily dancing away in his frantic but usual life pattern, there was nothing but a faint blue ripple in the centre, barely registering. Rose felt her heart stop at the sight. He had promised her. Her hand pressed down hard on the green button he had shown her and the central column sprang into life, making both Jackie and Mickey jump as the TARDIS shuddered to life. Rose gripped the console edge as the ship bucked and writhed on its journey.

"Come on baby," she whispered to the machine, "Don't let me down."

XXXX

Oblivion was a welcome break from the pain. The Doctor had never understood death but he was sure he did now. Nothing surrounded him but black and he almost felt as if he was floating. Perhaps this was were souls went when their bodies were lost, this perpetual silence and blackness. No friends long passed waiting with open arms, no bright celestial light guiding weary feet to the thrones of their father's, no gods to point out who lived a life right and who lived it wrong. There was nothing but the silence. The Doctor liked it that way, the blackness likened itself to the blackness he often felt in his heart, for the deeds he'd done, that had been done against him, all the regret. He had one more to add there, he hadn't told her goodbye, she hadn't said it to him. She had kissed him for love, she never kissed him goodbye and he was left with just those two lonely words, what if.

He thought his imagination particularly acute when he felt the arms wrap around his waist, the legs that brushed his as someone kicked upwards. He almost felt like he was swimming. He pulled his eyes open but blackness and cold made him shut them once more. His mind came to him then, the possession lost, consciousness fleeting but clinging to him. Someone was pulling him to the surface, he was clinging to some tiny little body as it sped him to safety through the slime and mud. He felt the burning in his peat filled lungs as his struggled for breath. He felt the cold and rain hit him as he broke the surface, the arms slipping from his waist and though he groped wildly he could not feel anyone near him. His broken body protested as he struggled to keep his head above the surface, his lungs filled and his eyesight blurred by the bog. He heard it then, his hearts soaring even as they threatened to burst in his chest.

The TARDIS began to materialise at the edge of the bog and he focused on the blue outline as it reasserted itself on the ground. He thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful but even the sight of his beloved piece of home could not stop him sinking once more.

XXXX

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, instantly recognising her surroundings and searching frantically around her.

"Doctor?" she cried, "Doctor!"

She heard the slurp of mud before her and saw a hand disappear beneath the surface. Her hearts stopped as she attempted to wade into the deep slime but she knew she would be little use to him if she too began to sink. Running back into the TARDIS she wrenched open a storage closest and pulled out a length of rope. Tying it round her middle, she secured the other end to the TARDIS console, yanking it firmly to test its integrity. Jackie and Mickey stood back, shaken by Rose's focus as she waded back into the thick mud. She groped wildly in the black and rain, ducking her head under but resurfacing choked and half blind with the mud. She brushed her eyes frantically, looking for any sign of life but nothing broke the surface. She kicked her legs, feeling the bog begin to pull her down as she wanted to give up, grief filling her soul. The mist before her would have gone unnoticed if it wasn't for the sense of calm it gave her, billowing a little way ahead she moved to it with purpose. It dispersed as she reached it and she dived beneath the surface, groping in the blackness until her hand closed around a length of fabric. She pulled on it as she kicked her legs to break the surface.

Gasping for breath, she tugged the heavy form to the surface. Her heart leaping in joy and then despair as the Doctor's unconscious form settled in her arms. She didn't known if she'd cried out or not but the rope around her waist gave a sharp tug and she turned to see Jackie and Mickey pulling her towards the bank. She tightened her arms around the Doctor, struggling to keep them both above the surface but succeeding all the same. Her back hit the solid wall of the bank and she felt Mickey's hands pulling her up.

"Take him," she called pulling herself away and lifting the Doctor as best she could onto the bank. Mickey grabbed the unconscious Time Lord and heaved him onto the side, dragging him away from danger before returning to Rose's side. Rose watched Jackie kneel beside the Doctor, but her attention was torn away as she tried to clamber onto the bank. Slipping on the rain slicked ground she felt her head go under and she kicked up in a panic, Mickey's arms closing around her shoulders as she surfaced. He pulled her onto the side, untying the rope from around her and rubbing her back as she coughed up the slick, black slime from her lungs. It was only Jackie's choked sob that caught her attention. She looked up to see her mother gently smoothing back the Doctor's muddied hair, his body unmoving on the ground. Rose hurried to his side, laying her head on his chest and yelping in shock as neither heart beat rang back at her.

"I'm so sorry darling," said Jackie softly, her hands on Rose's shoulders.

"No he promised me!" cried Rose as she saw the faint gold playing against his too pale skin, "Not again! You promised me!"

She pushed her mother and Mickey aside, drawing the Doctor to her chest as if it could somehow prevent the golden light she saw enveloping him.

"Please, please, please don't leave me," she begged, "Please. I love you."


	11. Recovery

Rose hated the feelings inside her, hated him for making her feel it, hating him. He'd promised her and yet here she was, clinging to the body she had only just accepted as his, unable to watch as the familiar golden light surrounded him but unable to let him go all the same. She wished so hard for it to stop, not caring for the mud as she pressed a desperate kiss to his forehead, over his closed eyes, down to his choked lips. His body remained limp in her arms and she longed for the manic chatter that she'd come to love in him. He was her Doctor now, she would always love his old self but this Doctor, this ridiculous, manic childlike creature she had thought to abandon and change when he first regenerated now meant more to her than anything in the world. She wanted to breathe life back into him as her lips brushed his again, she'd seen it so often in films but she could not and she cursed herself all the more. She could have learned at school but that day she hadn't gone, staying in bed with that useless Jimmy Stones. She hated herself for her relationship with him, from the day they met he had ruined her life and here he was doing it again, leaving her unable to save the man she loved. She wrapped the leather jacket she wore tighter around them both, as if that somehow would remind him and wake him, that he would push through the boundaries of death that even he couldn't break and come back to her.

"You promised me you wouldn't let go," she said into his hair, not caring for the mud that marred them both, "Doctor please don't let go, please don't leave me."

She must have suffered oxygen deprivation when she was sinking in the bog because she could almost imagine the familiar double heart beat against her chest, feel the small trembles in his body as his lungs fought for oxygen. She cradled him all the tighter, trying to push away the feelings that could give her so much hope before snatching it away again. She shrieked in alarm as she felt a hand push her away before a terrible wracking cough rang in her ears. As she managed to focus she saw the golden light had dispersed, the light from the TARDIS the only illumination in the rain and darkness. She heard the groan of pain, saw the man before her roll onto his back, clutching his hand in agony, his eyes still firmly shut against the world. She went to him, her voice faltering behind her lips as she stroked his hair, the familiar fluffy tufts wetted down by slime. His eyelids fluttered before shooting open in alarm but even their shocked expression failed to stop her heart leaping in joy, the two deep brown orbs so familiar and welcome to her. If it was her faith or his bloody minded determination she didn't know but he was alive, soaked and bloodied but alive.

Recognition came to his face, a weak pained smile touching his lips before he reached up to hold her to him. Rose felt the tears on her cheeks as she clutched to his jacket, supporting his trembling form as shock and joy hit him in equal measures.

"Rose?"

"I'm here, you're safe," she said, pulling back enough only to look at him, "I found you."

"Rose," he repeated again, "I heard you calling for me. What happened to me?"

Rose gently stroked his hair, feeling fresh tears on her face as her fingers traced the gash on his forehead, "Hush, it'll come back to you. Just rest now. Oh God I thought I'd lost you again."

"You…oww!" The Doctor pulled back sharply, his right hand leaving the left one he was cradling to wrap around his ribs, "I feel like I've just done ten rounds with Tyson."

"Mum, Mickey," said Rose, turning to the silent pair, "There's a stretcher in the med suite, two doors down on the right corridor, the TARDIS will guide you there."

"Try to keep him still," said Jackie as she and Mickey returned to the TARDIS.

The Doctor's breathing was still worried and Rose loosened his tie, her fingers snatching back as she saw the deep red scratch marks on his skin. She traced them softly before running a thumb over the bruise on his cheek.

"Look at the state of you," she said softly, "My poor Doctor."

"I thought I was dead," he said, "I was sinking but someone pulled me up. I heard the TARDIS but I was sinking again and then…then just your voice in the darkness."

Rose hushed him softly, trying to shield him as best she could to shelter him from the rain as he shivered. Her first job would be to get him into some dry clothes she decided, her eyes trailing over his sodden garments. Mickey and Jackie arrived back at a run and lay a stretcher on the floor beside them. Rose gently put her arms around the Doctor's waist and shifted him onto it, mindful of his moans of pain before he gratefully lay back and let them lift him from the bank and into the TARDIS.

XXXX

"This is no time for modesty," said Rose as the Doctor tried to undress himself one handed. She'd got him to the med suite and managed to settle him down on one of the beds but he'd refused to let her change him into the soft sweatpants and t shirt that she'd dragged out of the wardrobe, hurriedly changing and washing herself before returning. He'd hobbled ridiculously behind some form of medical screen and was attempting to peel off his soaked clothes while his hand, ribs and leg protested loudly.

Rose stilled his hands, mindful of his clearly broken wrist, "You're going to hurt yourself," she said softly, "If you can't trust me to undress you who can you trust. Hold still."

She gently slid his trench coat off his shoulders and let it pool at his feet before turning her attention to his suit jacket. When that joined the pile she unbuttoned his shirt, her hands pausing in alarm as the deep purple bruises around his ribs were revealed to her. She looked up to see the concealed agony on his face and reached to the table beside her for the device he'd often used on her when she was injured. She held it up to him and he silently altered the settings with his good hand. Rose pushed his shirt off his shoulders and then ran the device over the bruises. She heard the familiar buzz and heard his sharp intake of breath as his ribs cracked back into place. The bruising faded slightly but even Time Lord science was not able to work miracles and Rose knew he would be in pain for a few days at least. She bent down and pressed a soft kiss to the most angry looking bruise.

He hissed out a breath of relief, managing to afford her a weak smile. He tensed again as he felt her begin to remove the stubborn mud off his skin with a warm sponge and then a soft towel.

"Rose please," he said, blushing deeply under her attention, "I can look after myself, just help me fix my wrist and then I can sort myself out."

Rose studiously ignored him and carried on with her work. When he was as clean as he could be without a proper bath she took up the device again and winced in sympathy as she heard the bones in his wrist click back into place. She almost blushed at the language the left his mouth but said nothing as she pulled a length of bandage free from a drawer nearby and began to wrap his ribs and then his wrist.

"Let me look at your leg," she said, her hands dropping to his belt buckle.

"My leg's fine," he protested.

"You can barely walk," she said, "Doctor don't be so difficult I'm trying to help."

The Doctor heard the emotion in her voice and he sighed deeply, taking her face in his hands, "I know Rose, its just…much as you undressing me is something I've wanted for quite some time I…this isn't the way I imagined it."

Rose couldn't help but giggle, making the Doctor finally smile fully at her.

"Ok," she said softly, "I'll wait the other side of the screen, need to change those sheets on the bed anyway because you got them all slimy. If you need me though…"

"I'll call for you," assured the Doctor, pressing a brief kiss to her lips before pulling back with a sad expression on his face, "I'm sorry, I must taste like all the crap from that bog."

"I don't care," said Rose, "You're alive. Now get yourself changed and cleaned up, then you are going to lie down and rest whether you like it or not."

The Doctor nodded with a half smile, "Alright, now go on."

Rose left him behind the screen and began pulling the sheets of the bed that were soaked and muddied from when she'd first brought the Doctor in. Mickey had promptly disappeared once they'd got in, still uncomfortable to see Rose so concerned and affectionate towards the alien. Jackie was being slightly more productive, offering to go and prepare hot drinks and food for them all in the TARDIS' most Earth-like kitchen. Rose fluffed the pillows on the bed, trying to ignore the occasional whimpers she heard from behind the screen, knowing he'd call for her if she was needed. She heard the familiar buzz once again. Turning down the bed she waited for the tentative footfalls she knew would come towards her very soon.

She hadn't paused long when she heard the sound of bare feet on the tiled floor and then felt a hand on her shoulder, maybe leaning a little heavier on her than usual. She slipped an arm around his waist, helping him to lay down in the soft clean sheets. Perching on the bed she pushed back his hair and began to clean the cut on his head, glad to see it wasn't as deep as it originally looked.

"Can you remember what happened?" she said, gently squeezing his good hand as he winced, "The last time I spoke to you those apparitions had just disappeared."

"It's a little hazy," said the Doctor, "But I remember going over to help someone but I couldn't and then there was blood on my hands and face but when I looked in the mirror it was gone. I saw his face then and…"

"Doctor?" said Rose as she saw the tears forming in his eyes that he quickly blinked back, "What happened?"

"I've never… he was inside my head, not like Cassandra was. I was aware of everything but I couldn't move I was helpless, useless. He was so strong, he managed to lift me enough to throw me out of the window."

Rose paled at the image in her mind and closed her eyes against the threat of tears, her hand tightening on his as if to remind herself that he was still with her, still her Doctor and not another regeneration, "No wonder you're so bashed up," she said, tracing the marks on his neck before cleaning them gently, "But why did you end up down in the bog?"

"I saw a mist and realised that was where he'd dumped the bodies of them all. I thought I could do some good but he followed me and in I went. I was drowning and all I could think of was my promise to come home the same," said the Doctor stilling her hands on his neck and guiding her down to lay beside him.

Rose snuggled against him, soothing him as she knocked his ribs. She felt the rough bandages of his hand as it rested on the warm expanse of skin between her joggers and top.

"I thought I was dead but then someone grabbed me and pulled me up, then I heard the TARDIS."

"There was no one there when we got there," said Rose, "Surely if someone helped you they would have…Grace! You said the bodies were buried in the bog perhaps she…Doctor is it possible?"

Rose felt the petal warm lips on her forehead, "I don't know sweetheart," said the Doctor softly, "I've seen things I never thought possible but perhaps we'll never know. All I know is in the morning I'm going to the village and I'm going to persuade them to help me find the bodies. Maybe with a proper burial they can escape this torment they're in."

"I'll come with you," said Rose, stroking his hair until she felt his breathing begin to even out as fatigue began to claim him, "But now I want you to sleep, you need to get better before you can be any use to anyone and in the morning I'm going to run you a lovely hot bath and you're not going to moan when I wash your hair for you."

"Mmm that'd be good," he murmured, burying his face in her neck, "G'Night Rose."

Rose let her lips linger in his hair until she felt his eyes flutter closed against her and his chest begin to rise and fall in the deep breaths of sleep.

"Goodnight my Doctor."

XXXX

"Are you sure you're in a fit state to fly this thing?" said Jackie, eyeing the Doctor warily as he padded round the console with a little less energy than usual, his broken arm supported in a sling.

"I'm only moving it back to the front of the house so that if I bring back anyone to help me look for the bodies they won't be wasting time asking what the big blue box is," said the Doctor, cursing in a tongue the TARDIS chose not to translate as a jolt from the ship made his damaged ribs ache.

"Rose will kill you when she hears those engines."

The Doctor just flashed Jackie a manic grin before the TARDIS made its short trip back to its previous place at the front of the house. The landing was relatively gentle and the Doctor stroked the console in thanks, knowing she was being extra careful with him in his current state. As Jackie predicted the sound of running feet and an extremely annoyed Rose rang out from the TARDIS interior. The Doctor considered ducking behind the console but his ribs protested as he started to move.

"What are you up to?" cried Rose, descending the stairs, moving as if to slap him soundly but not finding a place undamaged from his fight the night before. The fact that she couldn't hit him took the wind out of her sails slightly but she fixed him with a glare, "You are really stupid at times aren't you?"

"No harm done," said the Doctor before giving her a sad smile, "Rose I'm alright, you don't need to worry about me. Suppose you're walking me into the village now aren't you?"

"You can't be trusted on your own," said Rose, slipping her arm into his good one, "Now come on, though how you're going to convince them to help you I don't know."

"I can convince anyone of anything," said the Doctor proudly, "See you later Jackie."

"Try and get him back in one piece Rose," said Jackie, a small smile playing on her lips, "He might be an annoying git at times but I think we're all quite fond of him."

Rose smiled as she pulled open the door to the TARDIS, "I'll try."

Progress to the village was hindered and they took the path slowly. The Doctor attempting to prove he had healed and only succeeding in straining his healed but tender leg ligaments. The mutterings that followed had Rose stifling giggles as she hooked an arm around his waist, supporting him as best she could while making it look as if she was just enjoying his embrace. Her Time Lord was wonderfully brave and intelligent but when it came to being sick or injured he wasn't too different from human males, firstly brushing it off like it didn't happen and then proving to be the worst patient on the planet. The Doctor had reached the second stage by the time they'd reached the village. His torn ligaments had become a broken leg, his bruised ribs now a punctured lung and his broken wrist in need of amputation, or so he loudly informed Rose as he sought the nearest bench and sat down with an over dramatic grimace.

"Come on you great baby," said Rose giving him a gentle nudge and eliciting an dramatic gasp from the Doctor.

"I hurt! I'm dying," he whined, clutching his ribs, "Fine bedside manner you have."

"Its nearly as good as yours," said Rose giving up and sitting beside him on the bench.

"I have a fabulous bedside manner," said the Doctor, "I always look after you when you're ill."

"Doctor last time I caught a cold you spent the whole time making sure I didn't get 'cooties' over the TARDIS and you covered your mouth and nose whenever you came in the room!"

"It was my Darth Vader impression to make you laugh," said the Doctor with mock affront, "Next time I won't bother trying to make you laugh."

"You walk in a room and I laugh."

"Oi! Is that really anyway to speak to the man you say you love, especially when he's wounded?"

Rose's eyes softened and she gently reached out to run her hand over his bandaged wrist, "My brave soldier," she said, her tongue sticking out between her teeth in that annoyingly pretty smile she reserved only for him, "I'll just have to kiss it all better when we get home, was it just your lower leg that got hurt?"

The Doctor choked out something between a gasp and a yelp as her hand settled a little too high up his thigh, "Bad little ape," he muttered, removing her hand and interlacing their fingers, "Don't tease me like that when you know I'm not capable of anything at the moment. Now come on, stop filling my head with filthy thoughts and help me get these locals rounded up."

"You spoil all my fun," said Rose, able to hold him back with just a little pressure. She turned to face him and traced her hands over the contours of his face gently, peppering little kisses here and there.

"What are you doing?" said the Doctor, not unhappy about the attention but noticing the faces of several older residents as they tutted at the girl currently pawing the man before her.

"Just checking," murmured Rose, "But everything's the same. Even the number of freckles you have."

"I don't have freckles!" protested the Doctor with a half smile, pushing up to his feet with a small pained groan, "Come on lady, we've got work to do and I want…I need to get those bodies out before nightfall. I couldn't let anyone suffer what I saw last night again."

Rose nodded, saddened by the pained look in his eyes. That was one difference she still hadn't got used to since he first changed. Her old Doctor, although passionate about the people he saved never seemed to connect quite so desperately with those involved. This Doctor though seemed to care deeply for every soul he aided, even caring for Cassandra at the very end. She knew that he had connected with Grace and that he needed to save her, it was something Rose admired rather than burned with the jealousy of. Anyone who entered the Doctor's heart during their adventures may be the first person in his life for that particular time but in the quiet times, when the TARDIS was silent and the vortex dark, when he would curl beside her in the old library and read to her in his new voice, that was when he was hers and she could bear anything just as long as when everything was said and done it was her that he sought out to cry and laugh with.

"Hey dreamer," murmured the Doctor in her ear, "Come on."

Rose looked up and smiled, deftly stealing a kiss as she got to her feet, "Don't know how you're going to convince everyone."

"I can be very persuasive," said the Doctor proudly, the wink he gave her telling her that, even beyond her comprehension, he knew what had previously been on her mind, "I love those times too by the way."

He was striding of before Rose could even speak and she merely shook her head with a half hearted laugh before following him into the village.

XXXX

Jackie Tyler was never one to admit the talents of the Time Lord her daughter had taken to travelling with but as she saw the mass of people heading in the direction of the house, and the JCB currently rolling behind them, she had to admit that if anything the alien had one hell of a silver tongue on him. She couldn't even begin to imagine the lines he'd spun to convince a bunch of villages, who she was sure had been erecting the gallows for them since the incident in the pub, to come to the aid of the 'ghosts' he hadn't believed in until a day ago. She strained her eyes to see if Rose and the Doctor's figures were within the crowd and noticed them making a determined but slower than usual progress towards the house, the Doctor now shamelessly leaning on Rose's shoulder. She hurried Mickey out of the TARDIS and closed the door firmly behind them, last thing she wanted was to be dissected if they found out the police box was a space ship.

The crowd passed by the box without a second glance and they soon began removing the panels of the fence to allow the JCB into the rear garden of the house. Jackie and Mickey followed them and stood and watched as the Doctor, clearly being prevented from getting actively involved by the firm grip Rose had on his collar, gave orders from an old stone bench as the villagers set to work clearing the area around the bog. Jackie and Mickey jogged over to the pair.

"How on earth did you manage this?" said Jackie, surveying the fifty strong crowd.

"Baffled them into it," said Rose stroking the Doctor's hair fondly, "Even I didn't know what he was on about by the end of it."

"You clearly weren't paying enough attention," said the Doctor, his fingers twitching as he wanted to get involved with the work, "I simply said bodies in bog need getting out, just threw in a bit of pretty language is all."

"And the anomaly creating a problem with the synchronicity of the time space continuum is what you would call pretty language?" said Rose, causing the Doctor to look up in pride as she mimicked him perfectly, "Funny, I'd call that gibberish."

"Works for me," said the Doctor.

"Yeah well how are they going to find those bodies anyway," said Mickey, "You nearly snuffed it in there last night and they're only going to be bones anyway."

"Actually peat bogs notoriously preserve bodies," said the Doctor, "And the JCB is for the excavation part, we're going to take off layer after layer of the stuff until we find the bodies and then when we do we have an undertaker waiting."

"Nice," said Jackie, "Well I suppose I better make myself useful, can I use the TARDIS to make the tea in, I…"

The Doctor nodded as Jackie flicked her eyes in the direction of the house, "Go on, just don't let anyone follow you in there."

"Mickey, Rose, you can come and give me a hand," said Jackie before turning back to the Doctor, "You stay put and if I find you've moved you'll have more than a few bruised ribs to worry about."

"I'll get bored," moaned the Doctor, causing Jackie to roll her eyes as he reminded her wonderfully of Rose when she was five.

"I'll bring you a book then," she said.

"Oh yeah 'cause that's exciting…oww!"

"Warned you," said Jackie before making off to the TARDIS, a giggling Rose and Mickey in tow.

The Doctor folded his arms across his chest and huffed before wincing as his ribs protested. He looked up at the broken window behind him and pulled a face.

"I'll have you for this Clarence my friend," he muttered, only shutting up when he felt a sudden chill pass over him.

XXXX

It was almost six in the evening before anything remotely of interest was found. A shout rang up from down beside the bog and Rose helped the Doctor limp over to the side, the chill now in the air since the rain had passed making his damaged leg ached terribly despite another round of treatment in the TARDIS med suite. Several people were carefully lifting a small body, still well preserved if a little discoloured and swollen by the mud, out of the bog. The Doctor bent down and secretly ran the sonic screwdriver over the body as the rescuers turned their attention to another nearby.

"As I thought, male, human no more than ten years old. Died around 1964 from…" The Doctor trailed off and paled as the sonic screwdriver rang back several beeps that meant nothing to Rose.

"Doctor what's wrong?"

"They died from multiple injuries mainly to the left wrist, chest cavity, and leg before an impact to the skull that would have rendered them unconscious before drowning," he said the tears apparent in his voice if not in his eyes, "God he did that to them to, they were just children."

"Doctor," came a timid voice at his shoulder.

The Doctor roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve before turning with a half hearted smile, "Hello Mary."

"I recognise the jumper the other boy is wearing, Ted Johnson was wearing it the night he died," said Mary, her voice soft but calm.

The Doctor looked down at the little body by his feet, "Then this must be Perry Johnson, " he said kneeling back down before beckoning over several people who were aiding the undertakers from the nearby town before speaking to the boy in front of him, "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry."

Gradually five more bodies were found, Catherine first and then Simon, the bullet hole apparent in his chest still before the twin boys were found, tied side by side. It was when the tiny form of Catherine's three year old daughter, Annabelle, was brought out that the mood changed. Her tiny form was beyond skinny and choked with mud. As before the Doctor had checked the cause of death and established it was how he had predicted and been told but whilst for the others he had kept a calm but sombre disposition when Annabelle was lain gently at his feet Rose saw the tears rolling unchecked down his cheeks. The hearts of the party had dimmed after that, the wretched body of such a tiny child breaking all of them but the Doctor begged and cajoled them to continue, desperate to find Grace before nightfall.

It was half past nine when the sun began to wane from the July sky and the Doctor finally called time on the day's searching, asking all to return in the morning which was affirmed by the entire group. The families bodies were taken away to be prepared for burial and soon the house and it surroundings were silent once more. Rose stood beside the stone bench as the Doctor stood at the edge of the partially excavated bog, his eyes searching in vain for the slightest trace of Grace's form. Rose came to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist, rubbing his arm as she felt how cold he was.

"You should come inside, you'll make yourself ill if you stay out here," she said gently, "You need to get some rest Doctor."

"I wanted her safe for tonight, away from him," said the Doctor softly, "She was just a child and yet she had to bear witness to all the horrors of that house and now even in death she is not free."

"We'll find her Doctor but you'll be of no use to her if you get ill from standing around here all night, she'll understand."

The Doctor looked down at the woman beside him and managed a weak smile, "I hope you're right," he said, "Perhaps there is something I can do for her now though. You know the other day when we were going to the TARDIS and you asked me what I was thinking when I looked at the stars?"

Rose nodded, shifting to allow the Doctor to reach in his pocket and pull out what appeared to be a shiny black pebble attached to a leather necklace.

"Pretty," said Rose, tracing the cool rock.

"Its from my planet, very rare now. My father gave me this when I went off to school for the first time, it's a protection amulet, very old superstition from my planet. I never really went for some of the hocus pocus my people believed in but for some reason I always kept this. I dug it out after that night because when I looked up I wondered if my people wander anywhere as ghosts and I…"

"Hush," said Rose softly, "You don't need to explain. If they do or if they don't Doctor you'll only drive yourself mad thinking about it."

"Do you want to see her?" said the Doctor, forcing a small smile.

"Who?"

"My planet, Gallifrey."

"Gallifrey," mimicked Rose, "That's beautiful but how can I see her, you said we could never go there."

"Well we can't see her as such but we can see her sun, we're a sufficient distance away so the light from the…from the…"

"We're too far away so light's not caught up yet," said Rose, gently squeezing his arm in reassurance, "Saw it in science class once."

The Doctor sniffed and nodded before raising his good arm and pointing to a faint blue star, high above the peaks in the distance, "That's her solar system right there and Gallifrey is the fifth planet away from the sun but its climate is very much like Earth's."

"Its beautiful," said Rose before turning his face down to hers, "Thank you for showing me."

"Thank you for listening," said the Doctor, before a familiar grin lit his features, "Come on then, we'll catch our deaths out here tonight and I need some of the famous Tyler TLC to help me get better."

Rose's smile turned to a frown as the Doctor turned back to the bog and tossed the pendant into the sludgy water. It landed with a splash and quickly sank below the surface. His eyes flicked once more to the star he'd pointed out.

"Take care of her," he said before wrapping an arm around Rose's waist and leading her back towards the TARDIS.


	12. Finding Freedom

Work started again early the next morning but frequent showers hindered the operation. Rose had dragged the Doctor back to the TARDIS shortly after the second shower, much as he tried to hide the shudders the cold was effecting him more than usual, getting into his healing injuries and freezing him from the inside out. Keeping him in the TARDIS had been a struggle in itself but Rose had soon convinced him that little would be achieved by his attempts to sneak out when she wasn't looking.

"I should be out there," he said, huffing but not wriggling quite as much as before as he settled his back against Rose's chest, the warmth of her and the duvet they had pulled over them easing the ache in his ribs and his arm. Rose had dragged him into the library and tried to settle him there but he had protested so much that in the end she had brought a duvet from the bedroom and sat behind him, holding him close against her. Her fingers were light on his hair, the touch that had often soothed him into sleep many times before but now sleep still remained elusive.

"You're no good to anyone out there," said Rose, "You could barely stand up earlier, you said yourself if you rest properly today then you'll probably be back to yourself in a day or two. Take your own advice Doctor."

"What if they find her?"

"Then Mickey will come and find us like you made him promise to. Now will you please go to sleep, I do actually want to be able to go travelling again after this is all over."

"You make it sound like I'm dying," said the Doctor, pillowing his head on her shoulder, enjoying the warm scent of her perfume.

"You forget who had to sleep next to you last night, you woke yourself up every time you moved because of the pain."

"You didn't HAVE to sleep next to me."

"That wasn't the point I was making and you know it."

The Doctor laughed but then flinched, his hand coming across to grasp his ribs. Rose made him relax his grasp and gently ran her hand over his side, soothing the dull ache that was ever present there. The bruising had faded dramatically but the pain of the internal injuries was still there. When she'd eased his side Rose's hand didn't stop its caresses. It travelled up his arm and traced the line from the back of his ear, along his jaw, down his neck and across his collarbone. The Doctor shut his eyes against the touch, enjoying the feel of warm fingers against the cool of his skin. Rose hummed in amusement as she felt him relax a little more against her, a murmur that she knew she wouldn't understand escaping his lips. She slipped open a button on his shirt, having discarded his tie when they first arrived in the room, and let her hand find a path on the smooth skin of his chest. She let her nails scratch slightly against him and the moan that escaped his lips came unguarded and she felt rather than saw him blush against her.

"Not fair," he said softly, "You have me at a distinct disadvantage."

"If you don't like it I'll stop," said Rose, feeling his lips broaden into a smile against her neck.

"Now I never said that. You'll just have to forgive my reactions, never had someone quite as beautiful as you give me so much attention."

"Now that I don't believe," said Rose, her fingers continuing their light pattern.

"Well perhaps I've had several beautiful women do that to me but I was never in love with them, you…there's never been anyone like you."

Rose's fingers stilled against him before flattening to press between his hearts, "Promise me you'll never stop saying things as beautiful as that."

"You've had my promise on that one since the day we met, Rose…"

A cough from the door pulled their attention and they saw Mickey framed in the ancient woodwork, his eyes cast to the ground trying to focus anywhere but them. His finger traced the door handle, clearly cursing himself for not knocking first. In any other occasion the Doctor would have sprung away from the position he lay in but at that point springing anywhere was not an option.

"I thought you might like to know," said Mickey, his eyes still not meeting them, "They think they've found another body, they're fetching it out now."

"Thanks Mickey," said the Doctor, desperately trying to push himself upright with his good hand, "We'll be there in a minute."

Mickey nodded before ducking back out of the door, his hurried footsteps echoing in the corridor outside. Rose settled her hands either side of the Doctor's shoulders and helped him to sit upright. She swung her legs out from beneath him and got to her feet, stretching before she took his good hand and pulled him to his feet, immediately coming to his side to support him as his bad leg faltered.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," he said, catching the thick navy coat Rose had insisted he wore until he could prove he wasn't feeling the chill in the air and pulling it on, "Sorry about Mickey back there, not exactly in a fit state to move anywhere too quickly."

"Wasn't your fault. Come on, sooner we get out there sooner we can get back again."

They made slow progress out of the TARDIS and around to the back of the house where the villagers were all gathered waiting for them. A muddied and age disfigured body lay by the bank, shielded from the drizzling rain by a hastily erected tarpaulin. The crowd fell silent as the Doctor and Rose made their way to the body. Rose helped the Doctor kneel beside the body, leaving her hand on his shoulder as he looked down at the drowned woman before him. The sonic screwdriver didn't leave his pocket as he reached a hand out to lay a gentle touch against the sodden black locks around her choked face.

"Its Grace," he said softly, the tears glistening in his eyes as they threatened to fall, "We found her."

Without warning he removed his coat and went to lay it over her body but then his eagle eyes caught something and he gently lifted her hand. Rose gasped as she saw what remained in her grip.

"That's not possible," she said softly, kneeling beside the Doctor, "It can't be."

The Doctor extricated the item from the sludge withered fingers, holding it up before his own face as it confirming its reality, "She brought it back to me."

Rose watched the simple black stone on its leather necklace as it twisted in the breeze, "Your amulet but that's impossible."

"She wanted me to know it was her who saved me," said the Doctor, his voice hushed so the villagers couldn't hear.

Rose reached out and traced the small stone, stilling its movement, "She wasn't telling you that," she whispered into his ear, "She was telling you that they're still looking out for you, even now."

"They?"

"The Time Lords, Gallifrey," whispered Rose softly, "I think she's trying to tell you they send us to care for you."

The Doctor's voice came out half as a sob, half as a weak laugh, "Maybe," he said, "Either way, she's safe and now she can be free from this dreadful place."

Rose helped him lay his dark coat over Grace's body as reverently as possible before two of the villagers helped them lift her into the back of make shift hearse to take her to the town. The Doctor stopped the undertaker before he could drive off, handing him a roll of bank notes Rose estimate added up to more than a simple thank you. She didn't have time to wonder where he had got it from before he was waving off the driver and returning to her side. He looked to be walking better she noted and didn't reach out to steady him as he reached her.

The villagers gradually began to disperse around them, the Doctor thanking them as they passed him until only Mary remained, sitting silently on the small stone bench by the bog's edge. The Doctor walked over to her and sat down, the cold of the stone making his ribs ache through his thin shirt but he pushed the pain aside. He reached across and took the woman's hand.

"Over now," he said softly, "They'll be buried properly."

"What about…what about the other one," said Mary, "The one who hurt you."

"He has no one to torment now, he may leave of his own accord."

"We never found his body."

"I will, but it won't be in there," he said indicating to the excavated ground before him, "Don't worry, I won't leave until this place is safe to be in again."

"You're the only one who ever believed me Doctor," she said softly, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, now go home and forget this place," he said helping her to her feet, ignoring the pain it caused in his side. He pulled her into a hug, "Goodbye Mary Jones."

"Goodbye Doctor…you never told me your real name."

"Tyler," he said giving Rose a wink over Mary's shoulder, "Doctor John Tyler."

Mary nodded, contented before bidding a final goodbye to him and Rose and heading out of the garden.

Rose wandered over to the Doctor's side and took his hand, "Doctor Tyler?" she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Was getting a bit bored of Smith, do you think it suits me?"

"Hmm, it'll do I suppose," said Rose walking her fingers up his arm before laying her palm flat on his chest, "I think I'll get used to it."

The Doctor pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her hair for a moment before looking up at the broken window in the house, the tails of the curtains blowing out in the breeze. He could see no face but he knew when he was being watched and his face became a frown before turning back into the gold at his shoulder.

XXXX

Rose whimpered in her sleep and the Doctor hushed her softly, stroking her hair before pulling the duvet back onto her shoulder. He gripped his side as he lifted himself out of bed and slowly dressed in his newly cleaned suit, the smell of peat bog no longer hanging on the well loved material. Pulling on his shoes proved to be most difficult, long legs and the inability to bend leaving him little choice but to discard his well loved plimsolls in favour of something easier to slip on. His old black boots sat in the corner but he already knew his feet were too small to wear them without looking like a clown. Deciding nothing was easy enough to hand he grudgingly slipped his feet into the black slippers he hadn't worn since his regeneration, feeling idiotic when they were all to apparent against the tailoring of his suit.

Pocketing the sonic screwdriver he moved to press a kiss into Rose's hair but pulled back as pain flared in his ribs, forcing him to bite his cheek to stop himself crying out. He slipped from the bedroom and crept along the corridors, the slippers proving their worth as they made little noise against the corridor grates. He gingerly stepped into the control room, already feeling the TARDIS' mood alter as she realised his plan. She let out a flurry of loud beeps and the Doctor lay his hands on her, silently begging her to be quiet. The TARDIS quieted but let out several unimpressed rasps. The Doctor simply stroked the console top before making to the door and slipping outside.

The old house loomed in the moonlight ahead and he squared his shoulders before proceeding towards it. The stone work he thought so elegant upon his first arrival now souring in his eyes as it was poisoned by the story that had played out behind its walls. He wandered how Miranda Prentice's great aunt had stood the sounds and sights of the place, why she had never befallen the fate he had but then he mused, she probably didn't go looking for trouble. It was not trouble the Doctor was seeking tonight but peace. He had no mind to go to the room that he had encountered Clarence in, his plan was to sit in the room he knew was Grace's and wait to see if her apparition would appear, still in its torment.

He pushed open the door and was immediately hit by the chill of the place. He stilled by the door, fumbling in his pocket for a torch and flicking it on. The place was quiet but he still felt the hairs on the back of his neck raising. He stepped inside, closing the door silently behind him before stepping onto the stairs. He had intended to go into Grace's room, bolt the door and not leave until morning but his feet it seemed had other ideas as they turned him towards the blood stained room. He felt the boisterous side of his personality rise, the cocky nature that so often landed him in something far worse than a bog. He knew the risks, no one knew where he was, there was no Rose to come to his aid this time, no Grace to, by whatever means, drag him from some dreadful fate but he had one thing he had always relied on, knowledge.

He opened the door and stepped inside, scanning the room and finding it quiet but feeling the ever present sense of foreboding. He stepped beside the blood stain by the fire place, staring into the mirror. He slowed his heart rates, humming the ridiculous songs he often heard coming from the kitchen if Rose got to the radio first in the morning. He didn't have to wait long until he saw the all too familiar face at his shoulder. He didn't turn to check behind him, didn't even stop humming. He gave a broad smile and raised his hand to make a cheeky wave at the reflection behind. He saw Clarence smile back that same, menacing smile and saw the movement of the apparition's arm as it closed around his neck again. The Doctor took a step forward, Clarence's hand fading to a mist around him.

The Doctor hummed proudly, seeing the anger fill the black eyes behind him. He felt the spider touch on his broken wrist but moved it and once more only mist surrounded him. He heard the white noise mutterings in his ear, the low, northern voice Rose had heard. He still couldn't make out the words but he felt the familiar blackness brushing at his consciousness. He reached up his damaged hand and gripped the age old stone at his throat. He had never worn the pendant since the second he had left his father's sight on the day he had been given it but it lay round his neck now and the blackness dimmed.

"Not so impressive when I know what to expect are you?" The Doctor said, glad his voice sounded confident even if he was more than a little terrified, "You failed Clarence. I lived and I've freed them. You've seen it, they have gone. No screams, no visions, nothing, just you and your malice in this desolate place. Let go, leave." He felt the hands on his back and stepped away once more, rounding back into the room, Clarence's apparition becoming more than just a reflection in a mirror. With his first proper look at the man before him the Doctor saw the bullet mark on the left side of his chest.

"You killed yourself after what you did, made sure your body was well concealed in this room but you're hate is too strong to let you leave, you hated them all because they made a fool of you so you forced them to suffer here. They've gone now Clarence, in two day's time they'll be buried in the church yard but now they sleep in a consecrated room and they are free of you."

The Doctor felt the chill and the darkness brush his senses again but he tightened his hand around his amulet and pushed back with all his might, ill used skills making his head ache but functioning all the same.

"You could leave this place, if you walk away, let yourself go towards the light, whatever happens when you humans die. Let me know where your body is hidden, how this room is locked when no body is inside, and I'll arrange for them to bury you to, a proper service if you're willing to let whoever you believe to be your god judge you."

He felt the blackness flicker at the edge of his mind and he smiled.

"Consider it, tomorrow I'm coming up here and I'll tear this room apart until I find you and when I do, I won't let them bury you and you'll walk here alone forever because I'll make it my responsibility to never let anyone in this house again."

He felt the blackness push hard against him, trying to force itself into his conscious mind. The Doctor pushed back, using the pain he felt from Clarence's last attack to fuel his resilience to it now. The darkness pulled back and the apparition before him faded to a small red light as he had often seen before Grace's manifestation. The little light fluttered over to a wall by the chimney breast and flickered there for a second. The Doctor stepped cautiously towards the rough brick work and lay his ear against it, tapping with his good hand. The echo of a cavity behind sounded back at him. He stepped away and bowed his head.

"If that's where you are I'll free you in the morning and make sure they bury you properly. You have my full and free forgiveness of what you did to me, perhaps now you will have others."

The Doctor turned on his heel and made for the door, pulling it open and making for the stairs. He realised too late that he'd been too trusting, realised too late that he'd been tricked. As he looked up from the base of the rickety stair case, feeling the blood flow onto the floor beneath him where his head had impacted with the solid floor, the violent spin of the fall and the push that caused it a hazy blur, the only focus being the two black eyes that stared down him in utter hatred from the top of the stairs. Then it went black.

XXXX

Rose padded through the corridors of the TARDIS, her hair still messy from sleep and her hand rubbing at her eyes as she shook off the last of her dreams. She yawned and stretched as she turned into the small kitchen they always used.

"You must be feeling better you…" she trailed off as she focused on the empty room, the radio silent and nothing used since the night before, "Oh I'll have him I really will."

She turned on her heel and headed to the control room, pounding down the metal stairs and staring at the panel she often found him under, fiddling with the wiring. She shook her head in confusion as the console room stood as silent as the kitchen. She rolled her eyes and turned back into the TARDIS, slightly put out at the fact that he had her running around the TARDIS so early in the morning. Her steps became more frantic as she checked all the rooms they normally used in the vast time ship, the library, the cinema room, the lounge, the laboratory, the observatory, the Cloister Room, the bathroom. She felt her heart freeze as he couldn't be found and she hurried to the medical suite, throwing open the door and seeing the dark, clinical room staring back at her. She closed the door behind her and hurried back towards the kitchen as she heard the chatter of the radio echoing through the corridors.

"Morning sweetheart."

Rose stopped dead at the cheery greeting, surveying the scene before her. Mickey and Jackie sat at the small table, four places set up but only two being used.

"Are you alright Rose?" said Jackie softly, "Sweetheart?"

"Have you seen the Doctor?" she said softly, the sight of the marmalade jar unopened already confirming that he had been nowhere near the kitchen.

"No," said Jackie, "Thought he was with you."

"He was he…house!" she cried before tearing down the corridor once more, Jackie and Mickey calling out for her as they followed at an unpractised pace.

Not caring for the rain sodden grass on her bare feet Rose tore across the distance between the TARDIS and the house, her heart hammering through more than the unexpected exercise. She caught the door handle and tried to force the door, the lock gave up easily but something was blocking her entry. She knew better than to force doors in the house before her and promptly closed it again, running round to the back and fighting with the kitchen door. The lock sprung free and she rushed through the freezing stone kitchen and into the hallway. She had almost one foot on the stairs before she saw him, crumpled and unconscious on cold wooden floor. She heard his name pass her lips in a frantic scream but she quieted as he began to stir.

She knelt beside him as he groaned, his eyes opening. He blinked up at her, frowning as he felt the cold on his back and the throbbing pain at the back of his skull. He pushed himself up to sitting with his good hand.

"Where…"

The slap that collided soundly with his cheek shocked him fully to wakefulness.

"Rose? What the…What was that for?"

"For being the most ridiculous, idiotic, stupid…" cried Rose thumping her fists against her own thighs as she couldn't bring herself to hit him again, "…pointless, stupid creature I know."

"There was stupid twice there you know," said the Doctor, gingerly touching the back of his head and wincing as he found the warm, bloody knot there.

"That's not funny," said Rose tears rushing down her cheeks, "Why did you come back here, you promised me you wouldn't?"

The Doctor looked down at the floor, the dust in the floorboards suddenly of great interest, "I thought I could do some good, I wanted to give Clarence a chance to redeem himself."

"After what he did to you," cried Rose getting to her feet and flinging her arms in the air, "You're an idiot."

"Idiot I may be but I found out where his body is," said the Doctor, "He walled himself up by the fireplace so he wouldn't be discovered and then shot himself. Always thought there was something odd about that room, dimensions were all wrong and that was why."

"And then he threw you down the stairs," said Rose, "I thought you were dead when I saw you laying there."

The Doctor struggled to his feet, knowing the tumble had set back his recovery as his leg protested and his ribs ached beneath their simple bandage, "I'm sorry Rose, I…I just had to try."

Rose turned away from him, crossing her arms across her middle, controlling her sobs, "You've got too much heart for your own good, he tried to kill you."

"And again he failed," said the Doctor laying his hands on her shoulders, "I'm sorry I frightened you I…"

He trailed off as he heard the footsteps echoing upstairs. Rose tensed beneath his hands and she reached up to grasp his hand.

"Can you run?" she whispered over her shoulder.

"I'll have to," said the Doctor reaching back and trying to open the front door. The lock held fast. The footsteps continued above them, growing heavier and faster. Rose tugged his hand and they ran to the back door to find it shut and the handle jammed. They tried every window turning to return to the front door when they heard the heavy footsteps running down the stairs. The Doctor slammed the kitchen door and pushed a chair against the lock to hold it. Rose picked up one of the heavy pots that sat on the kitchen counter and hurled it with all her strength at the kitchen window but it rebounded off it, almost hitting her on its return journey. They heard the familiar white noise and chill enter the room and the Doctor pulled Rose tightly to him, his eyes still darting round the room as they looked for an escape.

Her fingers felt icy as they gripped his hand but then he felt both Rose's hands flex at his back and he looked up into two deep, grey eyes. He took a firmer grip of the pale white hand, taking Rose's hand with the other and let himself be dragged through the kitchen Rose on his heels. An unseen door opened and they were soon descending a pitch black stairwell, the sound of the kitchen door being flung open above them forcing them onwards without question. They ran through the cluttered and dusty cellar, choking on spider webs and catching themselves on unseen hazards but being dragged ever onwards until the sight of the early morning sunshine filtering through the wooden slats of the coal hatch caught their attention. The Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and the little device worked for the first time since their trouble began, releasing the padlock and allowing them to open the small door. The Doctor lifted Rose through the gap, not caring for the screaming protest in his limbs before turning back to the cellar.

"Grace?" he said softly but his eyes focused on nothing, just a tiny red light winking out as he turned. He heaved himself up through the small gap, slamming the door behind him and sealing the door with the sonic screwdriver. Adrenaline keeping him from feeling the screaming pain he ran as fast as he could, seeing the beckoning forms of Jackie and Mickey at the TARDIS door. He pushed Rose through first and then stumbled over the threshold himself. He felt two strong arms grip his shoulders as his legs gave way and soon realised he had the unexpected figure of Mickey lowering him onto the deck.

"What happened?" said Jackie as Rose sank down against the central console, trying to steady her breathing.

"That idiot there went back to the house last night and nearly got himself killed again," said Rose, rubbing her arm where something in the cellar had cut her, "Wanted to give that maniac in there a chance to redeem himself."

"For someone who says he's a genius don't you think that was a bit stupid?" said Mickey, getting to his feet once he realised that he was helping the alien he was still meant to be angry with.

"Because you'd know all about it wouldn't you Mickey?" said the Doctor vehemently, pushing up to sitting much to Rose's protests and then getting to his feet, "What would you have had me do? Destroy him if I could find a way, leave him to his own torment without a chance of redemption?. That would be the human way wouldn't it?"

"Don't take it out on him Doctor," said Rose, "Its not his fault you went back there on some stupid whim that you might be able to make some good sort of a man out of a murderer."

Rose saw the darkness fall over the Doctor's face and couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him look that way.

"After all we've been through you still think…no, I'm not even going to bother," said the Doctor, "Here was me thinking that I could rely on you Rose, I thought you'd learned something since we met but its still there isn't it, that 'human nature' that says someone is bad and should be punished. All murderers should be left to their torment should they? Then why did you not leave me to mine?"

Rose cast her eyes to the floor and didn't even put a hand out to stop him as he rushed from the console room, not caring for the pain in his body or in his hearts.

XXXX

It had taken her five hours to find him in the end. She'd even walked to the village and back thinking he had passed through the console room without her notice and gone off walking. If she had been thinking straight she would have realised that he wouldn't have got far in the state he was in but her mind wasn't functioning on a rational plane at that point. She'd never seen the room she found him in before, a large, dark gothic looking place, lit by candles rather than the soft TARDIS illuminations she was used to. His jacket and coat had been discarded on the back of a large wooden chair that she could imagine some brooding lord of the manor sitting in when he gave out orders to his servants. It didn't take her long to realise that this room was probably a favourite of his previous regeneration. A fire crackled happily in the grate and Rose found herself wondering where the smoke went when the TARDIS had no chimney.

She almost cried out at first as she saw him laying still on the deep pile rug by the fire but as his hand came up to warm itself closer to the flames she relaxed. She stood watching him a little longer, not sure how to approach him when he'd left in such a dark mood before. Her old Doctor's mood swings had been easy to manage, leave him be for half an hour, make him tea, give him a hug, tell a rubbish joke and there'd be that familiar smile even if the sadness was still behind his eyes. She thought this new Doctor wasn't even capable of the dark brooding moments his old self had often succumbed to but now she realised they were still as close to the surface as before.

"If you want me for something then speak," came the voice from the floor, "If not go back to your mother and boyfriend."

"I'm with my boyfriend," sad Rose, her voice filling with tears at his cold tone.

"You don't know me Rose, I thought you did but you don't," said the Doctor, still not turning to look at her, "Besides, you don't want another idiot for a boyfriend."

"I'm sorry I said you were stupid for going back there. I know you were only trying to do some good but you knew what he was like, he'd killed his entire family, tried to hurt you."

"He killed six people Rose, six. A mass murderer yes but I couldn't just leave him to walk in torment forever."

"Why not?" said Rose stepping further inside the door, "He deserved it."

"Do I?"

"Do you what?"

"Do I deserve to walk in torment for the rest of my life? He killed six people Rose, I've destroyed so many lives. Would you have someone abandon me? If I hadn't given him a chance then what sort of man does that make me?"

"You're so different from him," said Rose coming to his side and kneeling behind him, "You do everything for the good of others, you've never…"

"Don't paint me up to be some kind of hero," said the Doctor, flinching as she ran a hand up his arm.

"You're my hero," said Rose softly, "You're Grace's hero. I know you can't forgive yourself for what happened to Gallifrey but that doesn't make you anything like Clarence. Maybe you were right to go back. I've got a tiny ape brain, I don't know do I?"

Rose felt a smile tug at her lips as she heard the huff of laughter leave him. Her confidence rising she pushed to her feet and stepped over him before laying down to face him. In the flicker of the firelight she could see the tear tracks on his cheeks. She reached a hand out to brush them away.

"I never meant to hurt you Doctor, I just don't class you and Clarence the same. You may have done some terrible things but I know each time your hand would have been forced. You gave him another chance and I'll always think you're stupid for it but you did what you had to do. Its Clarence's loss."

"I'm sorry I snapped earlier," said the Doctor turning his face into her warm hand and pressing a light kiss to her palm, "I'm in a lot more pain than I'd like to admit and I've kind of had my world turned upside down a few too many times these passed two weeks. I promise I'll rest, the funerals are tomorrow and then I'm going to get better…"

"That sounds like a good idea…"

"…and then I'm going to find a way to make Clarence leave that house."

"Doctor!" cried Rose but she quieted as she saw the look in his eyes, "I'm not going to persuade you otherwise am I?"

The Doctor shook his head before wrapping an arm around her back and pulling her closer, "Never and right now I want you to stop talking and help me remind myself why I was intelligent enough to let you release me from my torment. I love you Rose Tyler."

Rose's answer was a simple kiss.


	13. Of Exits and Exorcisms

The Doctor hated funerals, it always rained. He had sat in the drafty church for several hours and despite the help he had received from the village in digging up the bodies not many had attended the small service. Mary had been there though, her slight frame wrapped in her sombre black attire. The Doctor surmised that the majority of villagers would be at the Johnson boys' funeral later in the week, the fate of Grace and her family no interest of them now the mystery had been unravelled. After the service they'd gone outside to the small graveyard and to the small family sized plot that had been found so all the bodies could rest together. He'd stood in a similar role as Jackie had played at the start of the saga, a handful of dirt and a single white rose his parting gifts to the family he'd saved a century and a half too late. When the service had finished Mary had invited them back to her small house and they'd made the short walk there. Once Rose had been safely distracted the Doctor had made his escape.

He sat now on a small bench in the dreary graveyard, the rain still drizzling down onto his trench coat but he didn't feel the chill too much, the heavy jumper Rose had forced him into that morning fast becoming something he was glad of. A wooden cross stood in place of the headstone that would be erected for the family in a few days, a small gold plaque marking out the names of those beneath the newly turned earth. The Doctor had personally requested that no dates be shown on the headstone, just names. When Rose had later questioned him he answered that he thought a date of 1843 was not a good representation of their lives. He smiled as he imagined the names on the plaque before him even though he couldn't read them from the distance.

Catherine Isabelle Proctor, Simon Quinn, Johnathan Proctor, Henry Proctor, Annabelle Proctor.

The Doctor felt a smile touch his lips as he gentle ran his finger over the cool stone pendant in his hand as the list continued. Grace Amelia Howes, Ivy Suzanna Howes. The fact that Grace had been with child at her death had come as a shock to the Doctor when the undertaker had confirmed the brief post mortem results but he hadn't even bothered to think of who may have been the father, he'd simply named the unborn child and asked for it to be listed among the others. He'd gone through many names for the child, knowing in his hearts if not in his head that Grace would have borne a daughter. The name came to him as he had wandered around the back of the house and down to the bog the evening before, wanting to sit quietly on the old stone bench and think on his own loss as well as the one before him. He'd had the TARDIS on an easy standby linked to the sonic screwdriver if he felt any risk from Clarence but nothing had happened. He had noticed the window he had fallen through was again in one piece but that hadn't shocked him with the power he knew Clarence possessed. It was the sight of the window though that had set his mind back onto his escape from the house and the one thing that had saved him. Braving the thought of another altercation with the house's spirit, the Doctor had walked up to the back of the house and pulled a handful of the green and white ivy from the wall. He'd smiled as the name seemed to fit Grace's child perfectly and he'd returned to the TARDIS with a spring in his step, calling the funeral home to make his request.

The Doctor was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the figure slip into the seat beside him and he jumped as a hand slipped into his. He went to turn his head and regard his guest but the coldness that flowed into his fingers kept his eyes facing forward. The breeze rustled the leaves in the trees above him and he felt the rough brush of old fashioned cloth against his arm.

"Is this my chance to thank you properly?" he asked, not raising his voice for fear of breaking the spell.

No words answered him but the wind rattled in the trees around him. He stared down at the overturned earth of the grave, imagining the souls of its occupants flying away on the Cumbrian wind.

"You've saved my life twice, I just hope I've given you your freedom," said the Doctor, "Its funny, didn't believe in ghosts before I came here."

Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw the semblance of a smile form on his companion's face and heard a childish laugh echo in the rafters of the church. He smiled himself, giving the hand in his a tentative squeeze.

"I have a request to make of you though," he said, "I don't know much about dying, never ever though of it, what happens after this. My family died too, not too long ago. There were lots of us, lots of noise, its so quiet now though Rose does try to make enough racket for a hundred people at times."

He felt icy fingers flex against his, encouraging him to continue.

"I don't know if my people will ever go to the same place as you do but if you see them, will you tell them…tell them that I think of them, so very often."

He heard the rustle of hair as if someone had nodded and then felt the shift of weight against his side before the press of cold lips pressed to his cheek. He almost imagined a patch of ice forming there and tracing up to his ear where a silent voice whispered.

"Thank you."

XXXX

He thought he must have fallen asleep on the bench and slipped into a dream when he felt a warm body settle next to his. He felt no apprehension in turning his head and looking at the person next to him, smiling ruefully as Jackie's hair blew frightfully in the wind. She brushed it down frantically with her hands, wrestling it into a band she had around her wrist.

"You do know my daughter is going frantic for you at the moment?"

"I didn't mean to be away this long," said the Doctor.

"What are you doing here anyway?" said Jackie, pulling her black suit coat tighter around her.

"Nothing, just…waiting," said the Doctor, absently stroking his hand over his bandaged wrist as an ache began to set it.

"For what?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor, a tired laugh touching the edges of his voice, "What does someone sit in a graveyard waiting for?"

"A peace they'll never find," said Jackie softly, "I sat in the graveyard where we buried Pete every afternoon for a month just after Rose started school, was the only place I didn't feel on my own."

The Doctor reached an arm up and placed it around her shoulders, "Never stops hurting does it?"

"Not ever," Jackie agreed before tapping his leg to get him to his feet, "Now come on, Rose is doing her nut over you and I said if I found you I'd call her and drag you back to the TARDIS."

"Actually Jackie can you hold off calling her for a bit," said the Doctor, "She'll only come running and make a fuss again. I'll come back to the TARDIS with you but I just need five minutes without being told to take it easy."

Jackie pocketed her mobile and took his offered hand as she got to her feet, "Alright then but if she yells at me I'm blaming you."

The Doctor gave her a playful wink, "I'll tell her I gave you the slip," he said as they walked out of the graveyard and back towards the house.

XXXX

Several days had passed since the funerals and the Doctor had been forced into convalescence by a rather fearsome Rose but he had obeyed, keeping to the TARDIS interior and letting his little nurse fuss over him. To be honest, despite the moaning that accompanied every command he was given, he was quite glad when he began to feel better. He had always healed much faster than humans and the TARDIS had several nifty gadgets to speed the process along. His protestations were only ever half hearted, enjoying the gentle attentions of Rose as she made it her job to keep him happy and comfortable. When sitting up became a task without the threat of needle like pains bursting in his lungs or holding a cup of tea failed to make his wrist ache beyond belief the Doctor found his way out of bed and proceeded to find entertainment in annoying the hell out of Mickey until Rose agreed for sanities sake that she'd release him.

Rose was bemused when Mickey told her that Jackie and the Doctor had both gone down to the village early that morning. It had been two weeks since their arrival in Penrith and the Doctor and Jackie had proved nothing but cold acquaintances the majority of the time so the thought of them actually going anywhere together instantly made Rose think they were up to something. She'd questioned Mickey but he'd merely shrugged before changing the subject on to when they would actually be going home. Calling mobile phones had proved useless, the Doctor, as always, had failed to even take it from his bedside table and Jackie's kept shifting to voice mail after a few rings.

When several hours had gone by without a word Rose pulled on her shoes and left the TARDIS. Her feet had barely hit the road when she heard familiar laughter from the house behind her. She could make out the figures of her Mum and the Doctor as they stood talking a few metres away from the front door of the building. Rose turned herself towards them and walked over.

"Where've you two been?" she said as she approached the pair.

"Just had to get a few things," said Jackie with a shrug of her shoulders, "Didn't you leave her a note Doctor?"

"Thought you did," said the Doctor nonchalantly.

Rose wasn't buying it, "Ok you two, neither of you are that good actors, what's going on?"

"Nothing," said the Doctor, his eyes deliberately wide and innocent, "Not a thing, isn't that right Jackie?"

"Quite right," said Jackie with a amused smile, "You need to be a little more trusting Rose."

"You're scaring me now," said Rose, "Can…can anyone else smell petrol?"

The Doctor sniffed the air, "Guess the wind's got a bit of a twinge to it," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and beginning to walk a few metres towards the TARDIS. He began fumbling in his pocket and Rose looked up at him confused as he pulled a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. She watched in shock as he removed one from the packet and put it to his lips, clicking the lighter on and lighting the end.

"What the…when the hell did you start smoking?"

"Who said I was smoking," said the Doctor, not even taking a drag as he pulled the cigarette from his lips.

"Well the burning cancer stick in your hand would say so," said Rose trying to snatch it away from him as the aroma of tobacco filled the air around them. The Doctor held it away from her, laughing and shooting Jackie a look that Rose couldn't make out. They were clearly trying to wind her up.

"Oh this?" said the Doctor holding the cigarette up in front of him, "I'm not going to smoke it."

Rose raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you a little old to be holding a lit cigarette just to look cool?"

"I don't need a cigarette to look cool," said the Doctor, "I just need it to do this."

He tossed the still burning cigarette behind him and Rose watched as it sailed in a perfect arc to land on the wooden front step of the house. On impact the entire step caught alight and the flames quickly spread to surround the ancient house. Rose's eyes widened in shock and she turned back to her mother and the Doctor. To her surprise they were laughing.

"Wha…what…?"

"Couldn't stop Clarence haunting the house," said the Doctor.

"So we got rid of the house instead," said Jackie, watching proudly as the flames quickly engulfed the property.

"But Nan left you that house in her will, it was worth a fortune," said Rose, "You could have brought a lovely place in London."

"I'll be no worse off than I was before and at least no one will have to go through what we've gone through ever again," said Jackie.

"Did he talk you into this?" said Rose shooting the Doctor an accusing stare but it was met by more laughter on his part.

"It was your mother's idea, I just provided the…umm…fireworks."

"We talked about it on the way back to the TARDIS after the funerals," Jackie explained as they watched the house slowly succumb to the now ten foot high flames, "I didn't want to keep it and the Doctor didn't want to leave the risk of Clarence lingering over the village so we thought if we got rid of the house we'd get rid of Clarence."

"Sort of a do it yourself exorcism without the Holy water and twisting heads, that sort of thing can get very messy," said the Doctor seeming quite happy with his handiwork, "And don't worry, I've added a chemical to the petrol that will stop the fire lighting on anything that isn't within or part of the house so I'm not going to start any forest fires in the middle of rural England. It'll eat up the house and then put itself out. When the flames dies Clarence's skeleton will be revealed and I've already got his burial arranged. We just need to wait for the fire to put itself out."

"So what do we do until then?" said Rose.

"Don't know," said the Doctor, "Watch."

"Got any sausages on board," said Jackie giving him a cheeky nudge in his newly healed ribs, "I fancy a barbecue."

The Doctor shook his head in despair as he led them both back into the TARDIS knowing the ship would alert him if anything untoward happened with his inferno burning outside. She had done before he thought sadly before closing the blue wooden door behind him.

XXXX

It was a warm, fresh morning as the Doctor listened to the toneless, monotony of the latest prayer being uttered from the Vicar's lips. The graveyard was silent save for the two of them and the simple wooden box in the six foot hole before them. The Doctor looked across to the furthest corner away from where he stood and could just make out the elegant headstone of Grace's grave. The grave he stood by now would forever be marked with a nameless, Celtic cross, but he at least would remember who lay there. The vicar closed his book and the graveyard hands moved in to begin shovelling Earth into the hole. The Doctor slipped off his trench coat and laid it over his arm, admiring the white expanse of his bandage-less wrist. He tipped his head in a acknowledgement to the grave before turning on his heel and leaving the Church and its occupants behind him.

He made the walk back to the TARDIS in record time despite finding it particularly amusing to play stepping stones over several old tree stumps, testing the integrity of his newly healed leg. Soon the sight of the flat, charred remains of the house came into view with the TARDIS parked near to the front gate. He pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, a smile reaching his face as he saw Rose propped up in the captain's chair, a magazine across her knees. She looked up and gave him a warm smile, slightly tinged with sadness.

"Did it go alright?" she said softly, "Sorry I didn't come with you."

"You weren't comfortable," said the Doctor, "Its fine. It went well, it was a simple service, the rest is up to him now. Where are the others?"

"Mickey found The Blair Witch Project in your DVD collection," said Rose setting the magazine to one side as he stepped in front of her and took her hands.

"I give up with you humans," said the Doctor bending down to place a kiss on her forehead.

"Not all of us I hope?" said Rose tilting her face up to his. He brought a hand up to brush her hair back from her eyes.

"Perhaps not all of you," he agreed, pressing a warm kiss to her lips, "Ready to go home?"

"I am home," said Rose softly causing him to laugh against her lips.

"Ready to take your mum and Mickey home then?"

"Definitely," said Rose springing of the seat and moving to the console, "Come on then, you promised to teach me."

"Haven't I had enough broken bones in the last week?" said the Doctor with a cheeky grin that widened as he turned and fled into the TARDIS interior, a giggling Rose and her rolled up magazine close at his heels.

XXXX

The TARDIS was wonderfully silent, the only sound of life being the distant rasp of the central column in the control room signifying their gentle flight through the time vortex. The Doctor curled his legs tighter beneath him as he shifted the book on the arm of the chair, turning the page before pushing his glasses a little higher up his nose. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up and shook his head, turning round to tell Rose to stop trying to sneak up on him and scare him. Since they'd left the Lake District a week before she had made it her soul aim to terrify him by sneaking around the TARDIS behind him. She hadn't succeeded yet but she had managed to get them tied to a stake on a peace loving planet that valued silence above all else. Rose's screams of 'Boo' clearly not impressing the locals as the flames lapped at their ankles. Of course the Doctor had got them out before they'd been fried but Rose had still moaned that her shoe laces had got singed.

When nothing but the wall behind him met the Doctor's eyes he shook his head and returned to his book but the feeling wouldn't leave him. He rubbed his neck, expecting to find a stowaway spider trying to spin a web in his hair but nothing came away with his hand. He closed his book and took off his glasses before wandering over to the door, opening it he peered either way down the corridor, the illuminations bright and stark.

"Rose are you about?" he called but only silence answered him.

He went back into the room and huffed down on the sofa, perching his glasses back on his nose and cursing as he struggled to find his place in his book. He didn't want to look up but he did. A little red light flashed intermittently in the corner of the room, illuminating the shadows not touched by the TARDIS lights. The Doctor pulled his glasses down and peered over them, his feet finding the floor and ready to run. He watched the light grow and the apparition begin to take shape. His breath stilled in his throat and his hearts hammered so loudly in his chest that he could swear Rose would hear them even if she was in the furthest reaches of the ship. Nothing should be able to stowaway on board like this and the Doctor pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming before giving an accusatory stare to the glass of wine sitting on the table before him.

The apparition continued to form and the Doctor pushed onto his feet, trying his link to the ship and finding it dull and silent as if someone was blocking him from her. The fear really started to rise then and the route to the door suddenly looked like the longest run he could ever make. He felt the drop in temperature and hugged himself instinctively before rifling in his pocket for the sonic screwdriver, realising he'd left it in his jacket pocket which he'd flung down somewhere in the control room. He wanted to call out for Rose but something stopped him.

His eyes widened in shock as the apparition finally stood fully formed before him. His hearts still beat wildly but the abject fear that had held them subsided and he felt himself give an incredulous smile.

"You look beautiful," he said.

The apparition before him gave a small, shy smile, tucking a black, glossy ringlet behind her ear. Her skin was still ivory pale and her eyes a light grey but her choked blue lips were now full and pink and her neck healed. The Doctor noticed the tiny bundle in her arms and the tiny ivy leaves embroidered on the blanket it was wrapped in. The Doctor felt the tears in his eyes at the sight but still smiled.

"Are you free?" he asked, taking a step forward but stopping as the apparition seemed to waver in the shadowy light, "Are you happy?"

Grace nodded, gently rocking the tiny baby in her arms. Her eyes seemed to want to speak to him but the Doctor failed to understand her. Before he could question her he felt a warmth against his chest and he reached inside his shirt. His hand closed around the amulet he'd taken to wearing, the stone usually cold now warm to the touch. He closed his eyes for a second and he could have sworn for the smallest time he heard the sound of playful yells and a language long since forgotten ringing in his head before it fell silent once more. They were alright and they were together. When he opened his eyes Grace gave him a gentle nod before the apparition faded to mist in the shadows.

The Doctor ran to the corner, the sonic screwdriver scanning for anything and everything while the TARDIS gave him a sharp mental kick for the few minutes of silence between them, clearly even she didn't understand what had happened. Nothing came back to him, the sonic screwdriver humming but not registering. He felt the wash of finality flow over him and he laughed sadly to himself, he'd given her freedom but he would never see her again, learn what it was like beyond even the realms he could walk in. Feeling the chill of departure the Doctor ventured to the fireplace, his eyes studiously avoiding the mirror as he stared down into the flames. He would need to get over the tremors he felt whenever he did and soon, he didn't think he could convince Rose for much longer that the reason he asked her to do his hair for him in the morning was because he liked her playing with it. She'd been on to him from day one.

He smiled as he thought of the feelings Grace had passed on to him, the deep, long awaited comfort he'd needed. There was a peace to be found, he wasn't there yet but he knew it could be reached. His thoughts turned to Rose, still a little silent and pensive though she didn't speak of her thoughts when she was so he didn't know if it was her Nan's death or the house that had made her so. She too was recovering though, the nightmares quieting at night not that he'd minded having her share his bed since they'd returned. He comforted her as best he could, careful not to cross the very blurry line of best friend and lover that had fallen between them. He'd begun to think of it as their 'going slow limbo' but he would wait for her just as she was waiting for him.

He was so lost in the flames that the two warm palms on his back made him jump. His hearts only settling as he heard giggling behind him.

"Easy tiger," murmured Rose gently running a hand up his arm, "What's got you so jumpy?"

"Nothing," said the Doctor turning to her with a smile, "Nothing at all. Just wasn't expecting you since you've been hiding from me all evening."

"I've not been hiding I've been… arranging," said Rose, walking her fingers up his chest before gently loosening his tie.

"Is this you coming on to me?"

"Maybe," said Rose before pulling him down for a kiss with his tie, "Come with me."

The Doctor silently obliged, letting her lead him by the hand from the library and through the lit corridors. When she stopped outside a door he didn't recognise as one they often used he raised a questioning eyebrow. Rose leaned back against the door, fixing him with a half serious, half seductive look.

"I've been thinking…"

"You do not know how scary those words are when they come from you," said the Doctor, flinching as the ridiculous line failed to calm the tension in the atmosphere.

Rose flashed him a cheeky grin before taking his hand and bringing it to her lips, running sweet little kisses over his knuckles, "We always sleep in your room and you moan that my room is too messy whenever you come in there so I thought it was time for a change."

"What do you mean?" said the Doctor, feeling his legs buckle as she nipped gently at the skin of his wrist, "You're making it very hard to concentrate."

"I've not even started yet," said Rose, pressing a kiss to the pulse point at his wrist, "What I mean Doctor is that we need to stop having a 'your room' and a 'my room' and start having an 'our room'."

With her free hand Rose pressed down on the door handle and it swung back into the room. Still with a firm grip on his hand she pulled him inside and the Doctor smiled in amusement while he felt his hearts flutter in his chest. He took in the décor of the large bedroom, smiling at the deep, earthy colours he so often favoured in his room as they were set off by the rich reds that Rose often chose. The smell of jasmine filled the air and the Doctor noticed the vast collection of expensive candles Rose had weaselled out of him back at a marketplace they'd visited in his old form were alight and giving the room a soft, flickering glow.

His entire body shuddered as he felt her run her hands up his back before raking her nails back down again. He wanted to warn her she was on very dangerous territory doing that but he had a feeling she already knew as she wandered round to stand in front of him once more.

"I'm tired of taking things slowly, I know you are too," she said, the slight tremor in her voice betraying her nerves even if she was trying to play the smouldering temptress. The Doctor thought he liked the slightly more tentative Rose anyway.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" said the Doctor, his hands coming to rest on her hips before he bent down to press a soft kiss to her lips, "I don't mind waiting if you want to."

"I don't want to wait," said Rose wrapping her arms around his neck, "I love you. Its torment sharing a bed with you when you always behave like such a gentleman. I know you're passionate, I want some of that directed at me."

The Doctor smiled at her words, gently nudging her nose with his, "If its what you want," he said, "I love you beyond anything in this universe Rose, I want you to know that."

"I do," she said loosening his tie and pulling it off before slowly unbuttoning his shirt, her hands stilled as she brushed across the almost faded bruises on his ribs, "Are you alright to…?"

The Doctor bent down to her ear, his breath stirring up her hair as he spoke. His voice came out in a low growl and Rose felt the tingles right through her body, "So long as you promise to be very gentle with me."

"I think I can promise that," said Rose as he bent to kiss her once more.

XXXX

"Rose Tyler you should be sleeping," said the Doctor opening one eye and finding her staring down at him, a soft expression on her night darkened face.

"You're much more interesting than sleep," she said tracing a finger down his nose, "Do you know you have very pretty eyelashes? Very long for a man."

"I am not pretty," said the Doctor, shifting his arm around her back to hold her closer against him, revelling in the feeling of her cool skin against his.

"Yes you, you're very pretty, always were."

"Even with the big ears?"

"I liked your ears," said Rose, tracing his now much smaller ears with her finger tips, "I was always comforted by the thought that if we ever had to jump from a plane I could catch your ankles and parachute to earth."

The Doctor gave her an incredulous stare before flipping her over to pin her down on the bed, the candlelight flickering off her ivory skin, "That Miss Tyler was a little too cheeky."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm…"

A shrill ringing pulled the Doctor from his thoughts and he stared accusatorily at the mobile phone singing away on the bedside table. It was only there having clattered noisily from Rose's pocket when he'd decided her jeans would make a far better rug than clothing accessory. It had gone unnoticed for several hours until he nearly fell over it when trying to pick his way around the candlelit room in search of the chocolate Rose had left on the dresser. He'd mumbled about the fact that mobile phones had no place on the floor tripping over Time Lords and dumped it unceremoniously on the small bedside table. He wished he'd left it where it was, the denim would probably had muffled the sound it was making.

He reached over and grabbed it, pressing the answer key and holding it to his ear.

"She's busy, go away!" he said moving to hang up and Rose giggled beneath him.

"Doctor?" she said as he seemed to turn his attention back to the phone. She huffed in disappointment as he rolled off her and sat up in the bed. Even her attempt to tempt him back with kisses across his neck and down onto his chest didn't divert his attention.

The Doctor said goodbye to whoever was on the end and turned to Rose with an almost feral smile.

"That was Mickey," he said.

Rose gave him a pissy stare and folded her arms across her chest, pulling the duvet up as she saw the grin it put on the Doctor's face, "You chose to talk to Mickey over me?"

"He's on to something," said the Doctor, "Said something about Defra Vale school, record results, new management and some form of censored unscheduled meteor falling to Earth."

Rose's eyes changed from angry to interested, "You've got that look about you Doctor."

"It could prove interesting," he said leaning down to press a kiss to her lips, "What do you say? Even if it proves to be nothing we've completed our mandatory trip back to your mother's a week early."

Rose reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, knowing wherever they went it wouldn't be for a few hours yet, "I suppose it would be good to stretch our legs a bit."

"I like the way you think Miss Tyler."

Rose didn't have to answer.


End file.
